


CLUB EXO

by luckybyun



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Drama, Fluff, High School, M/M, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2018-12-31 10:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 38,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12131001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckybyun/pseuds/luckybyun
Summary: Kyungsoo is spending his last year as a new student at St. Peter's, an all-boys preparatory school. Wanting to fit in a little more, he figures joining a club could possibly help him survive for the next nine months until he can finally graduate.





	1. Like Father, Like Son

**Author's Note:**

> *A/N: hello everyone. i am done with the first chapter and will start working on the second chap as soon as I can! thank you guys for waiting so patiently. it really means a lot to me. for now, i hope you enjoy what i have so far. it's very boring personally, but i just needed a background story in order to build up to the main plot. thank you everyone! ilysm!!!!

 

 

**1: Like Father, Like Son**

 

 

Kyungsoo wasn’t expecting much when he got home on his last day of school. He was humming happily as he walked through the heart of downtown on a warm Friday afternoon, the straps of his backpack—now empty of loose papers and textbooks—held tightly between his fingers.

He and his friends had been working on summer plans earlier at school. The beach was the first thing on the top of the list, followed by late-night sleepovers and movie marathons for the next several weeks before they started their senior year. But he didn’t want to think about it right now. Summer planning could wait another time. With the next three months doing anything he wanted, his to-do list for the day was to flop back into his bed and take an hour-long nap.

Today was a nice day, Kyungsoo mused, waving at old Mrs. Jones who was walking her dog, an obese chihuahua named Squirt with buggy eyes and a floppy tongue. The sun was shining, the birds were singing. Everything seemed to be exactly in place.

When he reached the front door of his apartment complex and unlocked it, the cheery grin on his face instantly dropped at the sight of cardboard boxes stacked in a massive heap. The paintings that were normally hanging at the front entrance were gone too.

“Uh…” Kyungsoo closed the door behind him and kicked off his shoes.

“Oh, good. You’re finally home,” Kyungsoo’s mother poked her head out from the kitchen, then disappeared again, “how was your last day?”

“Fine.” He lightly kicked a box that was labeled ‘books’, "what is all of this?”

“What is all of what?”

“The boxes. Why do we have so many of them?”

Silence was the only response. He stood at the main entrance, slowly slipping off his backpack and dropping it to the floor with a soft thud. “Mom, did you hear me?”

She eventually peeked her head out again after a few minutes, but this time looking less happy and more anxious, “Your dad didn’t tell you?”

Kyungsoo blinked, “Tell me what?”

Right after he asked, the sound of the door unlocking halted their conversation, and Kyungsoo turned around to see his father whistling as he stepped into the apartment, loosening his tie and setting his briefcase to the floor. He closed the door shut and looked up to see two wide eyes staring straight back at him.

The gray-haired man glanced at Mrs. Do’s worried face first, then shifted his gaze towards Kyungsoo who looked just as frightened as she was.

“Oh, fiddlesticks,” he sighed, “I knew I forgot to do something.”

 

 

\---

 

 

“But I don’t understand,” Kyungsoo said, four hours later, unenthusiastically poking at his plate of lo mein with his chopsticks, "why can’t we just stay here and let dad come back every once in awhile.”

The rooms were practically empty now since they spent the rest of the day cleaning up the living room and kitchen area. What was left in the dining room was a small table and three folding chairs; the rest of their stuff had been packed away and placed at the corner of the living room. He couldn’t help but cringe every time his voice bounced off the walls whenever he spoke.

“We just thought it’d be better if we all moved together,” Mrs. Do said with a soft smile, offering a glance towards Mr. Do who was too absorbed in his Chinese take-out to look back at her, "we figured it would be best if we stuck as a family and started a new life.”

“But you guys get to stay at the new house. Why do I have to go to a private school?” “I already told you. Your dad’s going to go on a lot of company trips, and I’m going to spend most of my time helping out at my sister’s business to earn some extra money. We won’t be at home as much, so it’d be hard to take care of you.”

“But I’m seventeen,” Kyungsoo frowned, “I’m pretty sure I can handle myself.”

Still, it was difficult to change her mind. There weren’t many public schools to begin with, she explained, since their new home was located in a more rural area rather than the city. The nearest high school was over an hour away and would require Kyungsoo to take the 6AM bus. Plus, the majority of her girlfriends recommended the private institution, claiming that their children had all attended St. Peter’s and were currently working in their successful careers. Still, it wasn't exactly reassuring to hear.

“It’s fine. You’ll be fine,” Mrs. Do said with a smile, picking up a fried eggroll and putting it on Kyungsoo’s plate, “going to an all-boys academy is nothing to be afraid of.”

The small detail mentioned had Kyungsoo choking on his noodles. He began spluttering for a couple of seconds, then took the napkins his mother offered with pure gratitude.

As he wiped the oil off his lips, he croaked out, “Did you say all-boys academy?”

Slowly she nodded and took a bite of her food, “Yes, it’s a school strictly for boys. Why, what’s wrong.”

“N-nothing,” Kyungsoo stuttered, then quickly focused his attention on a noodle that was hanging on the side of his plate. He picked it up and tossed it back onto his plate of untouched food.

While he got the big eyes and puffy lips from his mother, his poor habits were definitely derived from his dad. The two men in the family definitely shared similar characteristics. For instance, his father forgot to mention that they were moving while Kyungsoo failed to tell his parents that he was gay. Technically he hadn’t been “forgetting”, but rather made the decision not to say anything. Kyungsoo was the type of person that enjoyed having as little conflict as possible, but the thought of going to a private school with potentially attractive males the same age as him had heat rushing up to his face. What if they all had to shower together? And do all boys like to slap each other in the butt with a towel? He would have to search that up later.

Mr. Do eyed him quietly, then spoke up after a couple of minutes, “Why are you so red?”

“I think I bit on a chili pepper by mistake,” Kyungsoo coughed, trying to void as much eye contact as possible, then reached over to grab his glass of water. “Whew, this is spicy.”

“...But you’re okay with transferring to a new school?” Mrs. Do asked hopefully.

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?” Kyungsoo said, his voice muffled from holding the glass up to his lips. Of course he wasn’t exactly happy about the move. That meant leaving all of his friends behind and being labeled as the new kid all over again. The thought made him lose his already non-existent appetite. He stood up, plate in hand, and headed towards the kitchen to dump out his food. His parents didn't really have the heart to stop him from leaving.

 

 

\---

 

 

“ _Whoa, are you serious?_ ”

“Of course I’m dead serious,” Kyungsoo muttered bitterly, index finger furiously clicking away at his mouse. He shot at one enemy, then two, killing off multiple members in blue with such style and elegance. “My dad was supposed to tell me, but he forgot so I literally came home knowing absolutely nothing until I saw all these cardboard boxes.” He pressed a few keys, then shouted into his headset, “fuck, behind you!”

He watched through his laptop screen as Hyunsik turned his shooter towards the opposing side, firing a bullet straight towards the blue team’s head before the words “RED TEAM WINS” blinked repeatedly in flashing colors.

“ _...So when are you going to leave?_ ”

Kyungsoo fell back against his chair with a sigh, staring blankly at the images of confetti and fiery explosions erupting on his screen. “I think on Sunday. We packed up the most of our stuff, but yeah, it’s really going to happen.”

“ _Damn_ ,” the older man grumbled, “ _what the hell… Do you even know what school you’re going to?_ ”

“Yeah, my dad gave me a brochure.” Kyungsoo reached over his desk and grabbed a small pamphlet, reading the description on the front page, “St. Peter’s Preparatory School. In the early 1900s, St. Peter’s was founded in order to shape the minds of young men. From athletics to mathematics to science, the academy offers a variety of programs to help students prepare themselves for their future. Such bullshit.”

“ _And you said it was a boys-only type of school?_ ”

“Uh huh,” Kyungsoo said as he flipped through the pages. He paused at the images printed on the brochure, staring at the dusty-red brick buildings, the marble fountain spewing out jets of water into the air, and the students smiling in front of the camera, "not a single girl in sight except for the teachers maybe, but hey, I’m not complaining.”

Hyunsik laughed on the other end. Just hearing his best friend’s voice from his headset had Kyungsoo’s chest tightening with anxiety. He was the first person Kyungsoo had come out to and was nothing but supportive since the very beginning. Kyungsoo smiled to himself, feeling lucky to have someone as awesome as Hyunsik. He would never say it out loud though.

“ _Well, just look at the bright side. You can start brushing up on your flirting skills when you get there_.”

“Nope, nope, gross. I am not going to do that,” Kyungsoo cringed. He clicked against his mouse to fill up on more grenades and first-aid kits. “I’m going to try to avoid everyone as much as possible.”

“ _Even if the guy is insanely attractive to you?_ ”

“Especially if they’re attractive,” the younger man hummed. He paused, pondering for a minute or so, “...Is it obvious that I’m gay?”

There was a moment of silence from the other end. “ _Well, you don’t exactly spew out rainbows, if that’s what you’re asking.” Hyunsik snickered, “and I can’t possibly imagine you walking down a pride parade hand in hand with your other gay fellows_.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, “I’m being serious.”

“ _Okay, fine. I have to admit I had no clue that you were gay until you told me. But then I started thinking about it, and yeah, there were definitely some signs. I just wasn’t that observant back then_.”

“Like what?”

“...  _there was one time Siyeon was wearing this really low v-neck shirt_ —”

“Oh, god,” Kyungsoo groaned, smacking a hand against his forehead, "is it really necessary to be so descriptive about a woman’s clothing?”

“ _Let me finish!_ ” Hyunsik shouted, “ _okay, well, uh… You could see her… you know…_ ”

“Boobs?”

“ _Yes, yes, boobs. All the guys at our table were freaking out about it, but you_ ,” Hyunsik laughed, reliving the memory as he said it out loud, “ _Everyone thought you were checking her out too, but then when I got a better look, I noticed you were staring at Siyeon’s boyfriend and not her_.”

“Oh, yeah…” Kyungsoo blinked, then nodded to himself, “her boyfriend was really hot. He got my seal of approval.”

“ _Yeah, I could tell_.” Even without having to see Hyunsik face-to-face, Kyungsoo could tell his best friend was wiggling his eyebrows seductively. He suppressed a stupid grin, “ _I think that’s when I started questioning things, but I didn’t bring it up or anything. I knew you were going to tell me at some point, so I just waited and, wa-lah, you told me in the middle of an earthquake because you thought we were going to die._ ”

Flashbacks of him and Hyunsik hiding underneath the kitchen table with their hands covering their heads as the apartment shook violently played through his mind like a broken film. He remembered everything like it was yesterday. Freshman Kyungsoo was a very sensitive and very paranoid person. He had been so caught off guard by the earthquake that he broke down into tears, shrieking out “I’M GAY. I’M GAY. I’M GAY” at the top of his lungs in front of a baffled Hyunsik. He still remembered the shocked look on his best friend’s face, can still remember how he thought he was literally going to die from a 4.8 earthquake.

“ _I’m g-g-g-gaaaayyyyyy_ ,” Hyunsik mimicked with fake hiccups and broken stutters, “ _I was honestly so surprised when you told me that. And you looked so terrified, with all that disgusting snot dripping out of your nose and whatnot… You know, those could’ve been your last words before we died_.”

“Hey, at least I would die being real,” the younger huffed angrily. Despite the fact that Kyungsoo was a very quiet person, he always wanted to leave the world with a bang.

The two teenagers chatted for a couple of minutes, with Hyunsik asking if Kyungsoo ever felt any attraction towards him and the younger gagging through his microphone. After that they fell silent for the time being, playing another round before Hyunsik stated halfway through the game, “ _This is weird and all, but I wanted to say that I love you, man_.”

“Whoa,” Kyungsoo laughed, smiling to himself in amusement as he reloaded his weapon and gracefully fired at another enemy, “I thought I was the only gay person here.”

“ _Men can be straight and still say I love you to their bros. Why does society expect men to not give a shit. I have feelings too, you know_.”

“Okay, I was just kidding.” Kyungsoo grinned, then licked his bottom lip as a nervous habit. He stared down at his hands, “I love you too. As a friend, though. You’re not exactly my type.”

The older man snorted on the other line, “ _Wow, some friend you are. How can you not resist my charming, handsome features?_ ”

“It’s a lot easier than it looks,” the younger teased, giggling to himself when Hyunsik responded back angrily. After they finished the round with another solid win, the sound of a woman’s voice could be heard through his headphones.

“ _I know, I know! I’ll be right there. You don't have to berate me every five minutes— Sorry, Kyungsoo, my mom’s making me run some errands, so I have to leave_.”

“Then go,” Kyungsoo said with a grin, “Just do it before she gets mad.”

“ _Okay, you’re the best… And I’m going to miss you a lot, Kyungsoo. Hopefully we’ll be able to meet up sometime soon_.”

Biting his lower lip, the younger man sighed, then nodded to himself, “Yeah, I’m going to miss you too.”

“ _Also, you should give me the address to your new school so I can send you a bunch of stuff_.”

Kyungsoo recited the address from the front of the pamphlet to his older friend. Hyunsik repeated it back to make sure he didn’t miss anything, then shouted “ _Take care, Kyungsoo!_ ” before the other line fell silent and his avatar disappeared from the chat room.

With a soft exhale, Kyungsoo closed his laptop shut and took off his headset. He rubbed a hand over his face, then dropped his head until it hit the top of his desk. The folded school pamphlet scratched against his cheek as he did so, and he slowly lifted his head up and grabbed it to glance over the pictures one last time. Marble statues, brick buildings covered in green vines, a wide, green field that stretched on for miles. The institution looked more like a medieval castle than an actual school.

Slowly, he lowered his brochure onto his lap, shoulders sinking as it suddenly hit him. He was moving. He and Hyunsik weren’t going to see each other every day anymore. No more meet-ups at the mall, no more going out to the movies… He was really going to leave everything behind to start a new chapter in his life.

After a few minutes, his eyes grew heavy with fatigue and he slipped into the comfort of his bed, the only piece of furniture left in the room other than his desk. The movers were coming over tomorrow afternoon to pack it up in the truck.

He leaned over to turn off the lights and wrapped himself in his warm blanket, listening to the sound of cars honking down the street below and the dull murmur of casual conversations. Normally he would find the noise pollution to be quite annoying, but for some reason, the sound of people unleashing their road rage at the intersection had him drifting off to sleep in a matter of seconds.


	2. Sunday Funday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *A/N: Thank you to everyone who waited! It cuts off pretty abruptly, so sorry about that ;;

 

 

**2: Sunday Funday**

 

 

It never occurred to Kyungsoo how fast time flew by until he finally got a good look at the small calendar hanging against the fridge. He was grabbing some milk, glancing over his shoulder to no one in particular before drinking it straight out of the carton. With a satisfied exhale and a quick lick of his milk mustache, he placed it back in its original spot and closed the door shut, pausing momentarily when he noticed a red circle marked on the fourteenth of August.

 _Kyungsoo's First Day_ was written in his mother's pretty cursive. Underneath, Kyungsoo had drawn a stick figure of himself curled up in a pool of tears. His parents weren't exactly thrilled to see his lack of enthusiasm.

That was a week from now, which meant his mom would probably talk to him sometime soon about packing his things and getting ready to leave.

Disappointment was now starting to become an everyday emotion for Kyungsoo. After spending a good few weeks at his new home, he was slowly learning to appreciate it. Fallbrook was pretty big for what he considered to be a "small town", but obviously it wasn't comparable to life in the city. Still, he found a liking to many of the local shops and the people around the area. It was definitely different from what Kyungsoo was used to back at home, but changes could be a good thing.

There was no bubble tea shop, to his utter defeat. The people there had stared at him in wordless wonder when he asked around. He knew he looked like an idiot, but the remaining ounce of pride he had by now was long gone. Bubble tea withdrawals were a serious and deadly issue. Instead, they led him to a tiny coffee shop called Deja Brew located a couple of blocks from his house. He had been hesitant at first; coffee wasn't something he truly enjoyed, but after noticing the sign that said "FREE WI-FI", his smiling face was now taped underneath the "Number One Customer" board.

It was a warm and quaint café, with strings of light wrapped around the room's interior and illuminating the shop with a soft glow. Pots of succulents lay scattered across the room on coffee table and countertops. Since the internet hadn't been installed in his house yet, he had spent the majority of his days there, sipping on a caramel macchiato while scrolling through his Facebook and Instagram.

There were other spots he had yet to visit and still wouldn't be able to experience in the next nine months or so. Sighing, he shuffled to his room and closed the door shut, flopping on his bed with very little effort. His room looked exactly the same as the day he moved in. Only a few posters were hanging up against the wall this time, his desk tucked at the corner of the room, and some of his clothes hanging in the closet. Most of his belongings were still packed away in his suitcase, ready to be taken to his new school.

As he lay in bed, staring blankly at the ripples on his ceiling, he turned his head and stared at the pile of colorful stationary stacked on top of his nightstand. Slowly, he stretched his arm out, grabbing the envelopes and flipping through them wordlessly. There were all from Hyunsik, telling him what the rest of his friends had been up to over the summer now that he moved. They went to the beach just like they originally planned, but also did other fun things. From visiting a local night market and going to a small hiking trip, each envelope contained photos that Hyunsik had taken, showing a group of grinning faces and a small caption underneath that read "We miss you, Kyungsoo!".

Kyungsoo bit on the inside of his cheek.

Of course it hurt that his friends were all having fun without him, but at the same time, he knew this was going to happen sooner or later. People move on with their lives, just like how Kyungsoo was starting his own. He was happy for them. Yes, extremely ecstatic. He wished them all the best.

Soon, the sound of the door opening from downstairs led him to sit up from his bed, letters in hand.

"Kyungsoo!" his mom sang out. Her voice gradually grew louder and louder, heading her way towards his room.

"Yeah?" Kyungsoo croaked out, rubbing his face with the back of his hand. No, he was not crying, goddammit. A piece of dust must have flown into his eye.

The door cracked open and Mrs. Do poked her head inside.

"You're home early," he mumbled before pushing himself off of his bed.

"It was pretty slow today at the shop, so my sister let me have the rest of the day off," she cupped his face into her small hands, smiling sweetly, "anything interesting happen while I was away?"

Kyungsoo shook his head, "Boring as usual."

She paused, pondering to herself. If she noticed he had been crying—which he wasn't, mind you—she didn't say anything. Instead, she let her hands fall back to her side. "I'm about to make dinner now. Would you like to help me?"

He nodded, following behind her after gently tucking the collection of stationary into a small drawer.

 

 

\---

 

 

They leave at approximately 3PM on the thirteenth of August.

The weather outside was warm and sunny, typical for any summer day. Kyungsoo's shirt started to stick against his back as he shoved one last suitcase into the trunk, then slipped into his seat before his dad started the car and headed off on the road.

He spent the majority of the time sleeping. After waking up, he decided to listen to his music, then got bored and started waving at every car with a dog poking its head out of the window. Eventually he watched the miles of green, counted the number of cows and horses grazing on the fields before losing track and giving up.

The three stopped by to grab an early dinner, eating at a very sketchy-looking diner with a cook missing one eye and a waitress who had a bad smokers cough. Needless to say, they ate their food quickly before leaving.

The drive lasted for another half-hour. The sun was finally starting to set, hundreds of stars eventually appearing over the sky.

Kyungsoo was currently nodding off once again, unable to keep his eyes open until he heard his mother gasping, "We're here!"

Scrambling up from his seat, Kyungsoo stared at the window until he caught sight of brick buildings and marble statues through the evening fog—just like the ones from the pamphlet. It was a lot bigger than he imagined, appearing more like a castle or an ancient cathedral rather than an actual school. Seeing the large campus in real life certainly left Kyungsoo breathless. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off of it.

And from what he could see, there were already people at the academy, dotted like tiny little ants scattered across the field. They drove past a long, single road surrounded by trees until they finally passed the iron gates. It was extremely crowded today, Kyungsoo noted when he saw how many cars were following right behind them. Once they made it to the visitor's parking lot, suitcases and boxes lay on the sidewalk as the staff members picked them up little by little, sending them off to their assigned rooms.

The moment they stepped out of the car, Kyungsoo jumped at a pair of burly-looking men walking up to him. They started grabbing his things, suitcases and luggage in hand before he could utter a single word out.

"Oh, isn't this wonderful," Mrs. Do clapped her hands together after she thanked the two, "Now we don't have to let your poor father carry all these boxes inside. Thank goodness I labeled everything with your name on it." Beside her, Mr. Do sighed in relief.

As they followed behind a large throng of people, Kyungsoo took the time to get a better look of the campus. It was definitely huge—much bigger compared to his old school—but not as many students. One boy looked particularly sick to his stomach while his parents offered encouraging words to him. Another was clinging onto his mother and crying about how he didn't want them to leave. He then noticed another group; they were running towards each other, clashing together into an affection hug. It was a lively and energetic atmosphere, one that Kyungsoo couldn't help but feel nervous yet excited at the same time.

 

\---

 

The registration process was just as Kyungsoo remembered. Long lines, lots of paperwork, and the quick flash of the camera for his student ID. By the time they finished, Kyungsoo wanted nothing more than to find his room so he could flop on the bed and take another well-deserved nap.

"Final step is room assignment," Mrs. Do stated as they shuffled behind a group of eager students. They were currently waiting to meet with the dorm advisor, the line gradually moving forward every minute or so. One by one, students walked in, then stepped out searching for their assigned dorm. Some looked extremely happy after finding out they were rooming with close friends; others were anxiously trying to figure out where their dorms were located.

After a few minutes, it was finally their turn to walk in. Kyungsoo stepped into the small room along with his parents, nodding his head towards the young man seated behind his desk. It was slightly cramped for an office space and the three managed to squeeze into their chairs.

"Hello," the young man said. He had short hair, small eyes, and round cheeks—the face of a student rather than an actual staff member. He then paused, focusing on Kyungsoo for a second until the younger man felt himself sliding down his seat in embarrassment. "I've never seen you around before. Are you new?"

Mrs. Do was the one who answered, much to Kyungsoo's relief. She talked about him moving and the whole transferring schools situation. Meanwhile, the dorm advisor—whose name turned out to be Minseok—was nodding and smiling with interest.

"I hope you don't mind helping him out a bit," she said weakly, offering a gentle pat against Kyungsoo's knee, "he gets very shy, especially now that he's going to a new school."

Minseok offered a reassuring smile. It was genuine and cute, like the face of an older brother. Kyungsoo couldn't help but smile back. "Of course I'll help. That's my job here as an advisor." He turned to the younger student, "it's nice to meet you, Kyungsoo. I really hope you like it here... I know it's scary and all, especially now that you're spending your last year at a different school, but I can assure you that you'll make plenty of friends. The students here are more than welcoming. They'll most likely take you in as one of their own."

"Think of it this way," the older man continued, "this place is pretty much home away from home. Of course you'll miss your parents when they're gone, but I guarantee you once you graduate, you're going to miss this place too."

The words sent a lot of comfort to Kyungsoo. Minseok seemed like the type of person who always kept his word. The younger boy nodded, shoulders sinking in relief.

"Oh, and I almost forgot," the D.A flipped through the pages on his clipboard, clicking his tongue as he scanned through the list of names, "Do, Do, Do— Aha, Do Kyungsoo! Your dorm room is... er, let's see here. 112." Minseok pushed his chair back and started rummaging through his belongings, coming back with a small, bronze key in his hand, "your one and only copy, so be careful with it because it costs _a lot_ to have it replaced."

Kyungsoo swallowed nervously as he reached for the key, then tucked it into his pocket.

The D.A focused his attention back on Mrs. Do, who continued to ask questions about the school and classes and whatnot. Kyungsoo spent the majority of the time looking around the room, occasionally rubbing his thumb against the crevices engraved on his new room key.

After a few minutes, Minseok clapped his hands together, then pushed his chair back, "Well, that's pretty much it. Most parents leave the reigns to their kids at this point."

Kyungsoo blinked in surprise. Already? A wave of anxiety crashed over him for some reason, the insides of his stomach twisting when he suddenly realized it was time for his mom and dad to go. He turned to the other two who were now standing up from their chairs.

He was starting to feel like that one boy from earlier, the one who had been hiccupping and sobbing about his parents leaving. It took every ounce of him not to be like that kid.

"Be good, okay?" his mom whispered before wrapping her arms around Kyungsoo's shoulders and squeezing tightly. Her voice was starting to tremble, and when she pulled back he noticed that she was tearing up, "make sure to call me at least once a week."

He nodded, voice shaking as well, "I will. And call me when you and dad get back."

"Oh, of course... and I'm going to miss you so much while you're away," she hugged him one last time, holding onto him for a little longer before pulling back.

Mr. Do eventually shuffled up to him, awkward and timid just like Kyungsoo. The middle-aged man gave him a brief hug, "Call us if you need anything."

"Okay," Kyungsoo replied. He bit on his lower lip, "I'll see you soon."

"We'll be together for Christmas, so no need to worry!" Mrs. Do winked at him, "it'll only be a few sleeps away."

"Yes, alright. Thanks for that," he rolled his eyes but grinned nonetheless.

He watched in silence as the two walked out of the room but not before his mom turned back around to give him a final wave goodbye. And just like that, they were gone.

Behind him, Minseok placed a hand on his arm. He smiled gently, "You should start getting yourself settled in."

Taking a quick and shaky inhale, Kyungsoo gave a small nod, "Thanks, Minseok."

"No problem... Oh, and we also have a mandatory assembly tomorrow morning at 8, so make sure to show up dressed in your uniform," the D.A added, then gave another comforting squeeze, "just stop by my room if you have any other questions." He started pumping his fist into the air, "you can do it, Kyungsoo! I'll be rooting for you."

The younger boy found himself laughing comfortably, waving goodbye to the D.A before leaving the room. He headed straight down the hallway, then stopped at one part where it split into two different corridors. The hallway on the left consisted of rooms 1 through 60 while the opposite hallway was 61 and over. He turned right and went up a small flight of stairs.

The second floor was a lot more crowded than he anticipated. With their parents gone, the majority of the boys were shouting loudly and chasing each other down the corridor. Kyungsoo dodged a group of students just in time by pressing himself against the wall, staring with wide eyes as they zoomed past a corner and disappeared. It was definitely nervewracking to say the least, especially knowing that all of them had been friends since their first year. They were greeting each other happily, and Kyungsoo couldn't help but eavesdrop as they talked about the things they did during the summer and the classes they were dreading to take this year.

He glanced around the rooms on his way to his own, observing the people around him nervously. Majority of them were already unpacking. Others were starting to set up their beds. The whole entire dorm was filled with a busy atmosphere as everyone tried to catch up with each other. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo was trying his best to avoid everyone as much as possible.

Eventually he reached his own room and fished the key out of his pocket. It took a little wiggling before the door finally unlocked, creaking slightly when he gave a gentle push. With a deep breath, Kyungsoo stepped inside.

The room was rather empty, with only two beds placed on opposite sides of the room and two desks facing away from each other. It was slightly cramped but enough to fit the basic items. To add on to his growing anxiety, a young boy was already sitting on top of one of the beds, suitcase open and clothes thrown hazardously on the carpet. He had been staring at his phone, but quickly looked up when he realized he wasn't alone anymore.

They both stared each other for a brief moment, at a loss of words before the boy broke the tension with a crack of a smile, "Hey."

"H-hi," Kyungsoo replied stiffly. _Great_ , just great. His first word in and he was already making a complete fool out of himself. As he glanced around the room, bottom lip in his teeth, he noticed all of his stuff was already here. Suitcases, textbooks, everything. He grabbed one piece of luggage and dragged it across the carpet, placing it near the only unoccupied bed left in the room. The edge of the mattress sank underneath his weight as he sat down. 

 _Let's try again. Only this time, don't sound like an idiot._  

"I'm Kyungsoo," he said quietly.

"Baekhyun," the other boy grinned, stretching out a hand. Kyungsoo reached over and shook it gently before the other boy spoke, "I've never seen you around here before. I'm guessing you're a new student?"

He fought down a blush. Was it really that obvious? Minseok had mentioned it earlier, and now it was Baekhyun who pointed it out. Maybe it was really rare for new students to come in so late. He nodded, then told the other student how he had moved to Fallbrook a couple of weeks ago.

"Oh, wow. Then it must be pretty different from the city, huh?" Baekhyun grinned, "but don't worry. You're going to like it here."

Kyungsoo secretly hoped so too.

For the next hour or so, they both talked while unpacking. According to the older student, Baekhyun had been going to St. Peter's since middle school, a separate academy a few miles from here, and was planning on attending a university to major in business. He was very talkative, which was good because Kyungsoo was awful at making conversation. He learned about the different events that were held here every year, how Baekhyun was currently doing hapkido and was fairly good at it too, and how everyone was allowed to go to Rosemore, a small town located a couple minutes from the school, on the weekends as long as they had signed permission from their parents.

As they continued to talk about their upcoming classes (Baekhyun and Kyungsoo both had quite a few together), someone was knocking against the door.

"Door's open," Baekhyun called out.

A tall boy with dark brown hair and ears slightly too big for his head stepped inside the room, grinning playfully at Baekhyun, "Well, well, well... If it isn't Byun Baekhyun. Haven't seen you in a long time."

The older man chuckled in amusement, "It's been a while, Park. Are you stopping by to tell me how much you've missed me over the summer?"

The other boy snorted, "In your dreams."

The two snickered jokingly, making Kyungsoo feel more like an outsider than ever before. He suddenly remembered that all the students knew each other and he was the only one who was unfamiliar with everyone. The tall student cleared his throat, "Hey, uh, they're doing a movie night at the lounge. I think Minseok said they're going to play Spider-Man in a couple of minutes."

"Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield?" Baekhyun asked.

"Neither," the boy answered with a grin, "Tom Holland."

"Yes! I've been dying to see the latest one." Baekhyun hopped off the bed, grabbing his phone and keys along the way, "and they better have popcorn and chips this time or else—"

The older student paused for a second as if remembering something, then whipped back around to Kyungsoo, who had been sitting there quietly for the past few minutes. "Come with us."

"I— uh..." Kyungsoo stuttered, staring down at his suitcase. Most of his clothes were on the bed and floor. "I still have a lot of stuff to unpack..."

"Oh, don't worry about it. You can do it when we get back."

Kyungsoo hesitated at first, debating whether to just reject the student's offer and stay in the comfort of his room for the remainder of the day. But after thinking about it carefully, he knew this was the perfect chance to start making some friends and possibly not be a loner on his very first day. Yes, a perfect opportunity that could not be missed.

Nodding, Kyungsoo stood up and stepped over his belongings, "Okay."

"Whoo! This is going to be awesome!" Baekhyun shouted once they stepped out into the hallway, then proceeded to shoot out his fingers around the room just like how Spider-Man would fire webs out of his hands. He grinned, arms falling back to his sides, "by the way... Kyungsoo, this goofball right here is Chanyeol. Park, this is Kyungsoo, our newest addition to the family."

"Hi," the shorter man said quietly.

"Welcome to St. Peter's," Chanyeol grinned. "Sorry you had to be stuck with Baekhyun. If I were you, I'd ask Minseok to switch rooms before it's too late— Ow!"

"Don't listen to him," Baekhyun interrupted with a solid punch against the taller man's arm. Beside him, Chanyeol rubbed against the spot where he had been hit, bottom lip jutted out to a small pout. "I am the best roommate ever. If there was an award for that, you'd bet your ass that I'd get it four years in a row."

"What a load of bull—" Chanyeol flinched when Baekhyun raised his fist again. "Nevermind."

It was like watching two kids bickering at each other. Kyungsoo watched with faint amusement, then asked, "Were you guys roommates last year?"

"Nope, never," Baekhyun answered. "I had someone named Jongdae for the past three years. You'll meet him soon enough." He turned to Chanyeol, "Who are you rooming with this year?"

"Yixing."

"Ah, nice," the older man hummed, "I've always liked him."

More unfamiliar names being mentioned. It was hard keeping track of them all at once. Kyungsoo bit on the inside of his cheek and trailed beside the two rambunctious students. On the way there, Chanyeol had asked him about his classes, smiling widely when he realized all three also had similar classes together.

They made it to the senior lounge after a few minutes. The room was already packed with other students talking, laughing, and complaining about how someone had misplaced the remote control. Kyungsoo looked around the room nervously when others greeted both Baekhyun and Chanyeol with loud, enthusiastic cheers.

"Make way!" Chanyeol shouted at the top of his lungs. The room parted as the tall student stepped through and Baekhyun turned back around to grin at Kyungsoo, "and this is why I'm friends with him. He's great when you need to move through a crowd."

Kyungsoo laughed, clutching onto the back of the older student's shirt until they reached the sofa.

"Up, out of the way! You're in my spot," the tallest of the bunch said at the group of boys currently occupying the seat. Kyungsoo stared with wide eyes. Was it really okay for him to kick other people out like that? He had never seen anybody as bold as Chanyeol.

The boy sitting in the middle stuck his tongue out, "Why do we have to move? We're the ones who got here first."

"Hey, this is the  _senior_  lounge, and I am a  _senior_ , which means this is  _my_ lounge. You, on the other hand, are a junior. Repeat after me, Sehun, _ju-nior_ , meaning this isn't your lounge. You're not even supposed to be here."

The younger boy frowned, "But it's movie night—"

Chanyeol pressed a finger against the boy's lips, "No buts! Up you go!"

"Alright, alright, fine! We'll leave..." Sehun shot a not-so-intimidating glare at the older boy, then made a face, "and your finger smells weird!"

"Nothing I haven't heard of before," Chanyeol snickered, then fell back against the couch with a sigh, "ah, it feels great to reclaim my throne."

The junior made a face at him before sitting on the floor a few inches in front of Chanyeol's legs. Luckily, pillows and blankets were slowly being passed around to make the seating arrangements more comfortable for everybody. Meanwhile, Baekhyun had dragged Kyungsoo down onto the couch. The cushions were rather lumpy when he fell back, and it smelled kind of old, but he didn't seem to mind. He liked that Baekhyun and Chanyeol were trying to make him feel like he belonged.

His peaceful thoughts were soon interrupted when Sehun decided to turn around, making direct eye contact with Kyungsoo. Despite the fact that Kyungsoo was a year older, he couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated when the younger suddenly asked, "Who's this guy?"

"Uh..." Kyungsoo said, face turning red. Within the next five seconds, all eyes were directed towards him.

"This here is Kyungsoo!" Baekhyun said loud enough for everybody to hear. He clapped a hand against the younger boy's shoulder, "he's new here at St. Peter's, so you better not mess with him."

The younger boy stared down at his lap in embarrassment.

He was somewhat expecting people to ignore him, to give him one last glance before focusing back on the TV screen at the front. What he didn't expect, though, was the fact that almost everyone was now starting to surround him like a swarm of toddlers fighting over a brand new toy.

"Whoa, we haven't had a new student in a long time."

"His eyes are huge."

"He's kind of quiet..."

"Are you sure he isn't a freshman?"

"Hello, I'm Yixing, how are you liking it here so far?"

Kyungsoo couldn't seem to focus on a single person in the room. All at once, people were starting to introduce themselves, grabbing his hand, ruffling his hair, and he wasn't exactly sure, but it felt like someone had greeted him with a wet kiss on the cheek.

"I— uh..." his eyes darted around the room at the group of smiling faces, "I-it's really nice to meet you guys."

It felt good to talk to some of the students in the lounge. They were chatting with him like they had been friends for a long time, asking him which school he went to, what classes he was taking, and all that. Kyungsoo found himself talking rather comfortably, which definitely surprised him since he normally sucked at social outings.

"Oi, everyone, shut up!" another voice boomed over the loud chatter, "we're starting the movie now!"

"Finally," Baekhyun sighed in relief, leaning his head back against the couch. He quickly shot back up again, "Hey, where's the popcorn?"

"It's coming, you ungrateful, good-for-nothing brat."

The boy sank lower on the couch, then smiled sheepishly at the tall man with the darkest, most angry-looking eyebrows Kyungsoo had ever seen, "Heh, sorry. Thank you, Yifan. I really appreciate it."

The tall man grumbled under his breath before stepping away.

Kyungsoo gently nudged Baekhyun against the shoulder, "Is he a senior too?"

"Who? Yifan?" Baekhyun asked, following the direction of the younger boy's gaze, then shook his head no. "he's the D.A for the juniors."

"Oh, okay," the younger nodded, even though it didn't really make sense to him. Yifan looked way too menacing to be a dorm advisor. In fact, he looked like one of those kids that bullied other students for their lunch money, or perhaps a fugitive who just escaped the local prison.

As if reading Kyungsoo's thoughts, Baekhyun added, "His face screams murder, but he's actually pretty nice. Just don't get on his bad side—"

"Baekhyun, can you please. Shut. Your. Mouth."

"Okay, okay! I was just talking to the new kid, sheesh. Sorrrrryyyyyy," the older student lifted his hands up mockingly, "and I'm not the only one talking. There are other students too."

The junior dorm advisor smirked, "I just like picking on you the most... and who's this new kid we're all talking about?"

At least fifteen different hands pointed directly at Kyungsoo's head, another grabbing his wrist to hold it up into the air. The boy jerked his hand away, face red, then sank lower into his seat, hoping that the ratty cushions would somehow swallow him up.

Yifan made his way over to the new student, hovering above him like a predator about to devour its next meal. Kyungsoo swallowed nervously, "H-hi."

"Hello, Kyungsoo," the man nodded quietly, which made him shake and tremble with fright. "Welcome to St. Peter's, or as I'd like to call it..." he paused for an added effect, " _He_ _ll_."

"Wow, nice one, Yifan," one boy snorted.

"That was really lame," another called out.

"You could've at least sounded like you meant it."

"Okay, fine, fine. I give up," Yifan sighed, then offered a kind-slash-scary grin towards Kyungsoo, "don't worry. I was just joking about what I said earlier—"

"Whoa, who would've thought," Baekhyun said with a dramatic hand on his chest, but instantly resumed to munching on his bowl of popcorn with an innocent smile.

"Anyways..." Yifan said after shooting an angry glare at the boy, "St. Peter's is actually a pretty nice school, so don't sweat it."

"Okay," Kyungsoo nodded quietly. He was starting to believe a lot of people now, all their words comforting to his ears. First Minseok, then Baekhyun, and now Yifan. It seemed as though everyone wanted him to feel like he belonged. "Thank you, Yifan. I'm actually really starting to like it here."

The junior dorm advisor smiled, walking back to his original seat before muttering, " _What a polite kid_."

"Shhhh, it's starting!" a voice called out from the back.

The entire room soon fell silent after that save for the occasional sound of people chewing on their popcorn, chips, and candy bars. Sehun turned around to yell at Chanyeol for constantly kicking him against his back. Another boy cried out after accidentally dropping his bowl to the ground.

"Are we done acting like a bunch of children?" Yifan snapped, looking around the room once the chaos had died down. After receiving nothing but silence, he huffed, then grabbed the remote and pressed play.

The previews started first, loud explosions and cheesy lines blasting through the speakers around the room. Some people laughed. Others groaned after hearing another lousy, overused pun. 

Soon, Kyungsoo felt someone sinking on the couch to his right, "Hey, has it started yet?"

"No, just the beginning," he replied without looking, his fingers fidgeting in his lap.

"Oh, cool..." There was some movement beside him, then something cold pressed against Kyungsoo's arm. He looked down, jumping when a bowl of popcorn suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Want some?" the boy asked, shaking the plastic bowl slightly.

Kyungsoo laughed quietly, then reached over to grab a handful, "Okay, thanks."

After a few minutes, the first scene appeared on the screen and several students began to whisper in excitement.

The student beside him chewed on his popcorn in thought, then turned to Kyungsoo, "I'm Jongin, by the way. You're the new kid, right?"

He nodded as he crunched on another piece, "Yeah, I'm Kyungsoo."

"Well, it's nice to meet you."

"You too," Kyungsoo mumbled with his mouth full of corn kernels, his eyes too focused on the screen to even consider looking at the boy sitting next to him.

The student chuckled, then stood up with the half-empty bowl, "I'm going to grab some more popcorn."

"Okay," he answered without much thought. After a few seconds, he glanced up to get a better look at the person who had been sitting next to him, but could only catch the back of his head as he disappeared into the crowd of students.

With a small shrug, Kyungsoo turned his attention back to the movie.

 

 

 


	3. Baekhyun's Love for Brownies (& Park Chanyeol)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *A/N: sorry it took so long for me to update :( i've been stuck with a writer's block for the past several days and had all the major points but didn't know how to fill in the gaps ;; also, i really love baekhyun and chanyeol -sobs- i knew i had to make their relationship a lovey-dovey one bc frankly baekyeol give each other their everything. kaisoo interactions will most likely occur in the next chap. once again, thank you all!

 

 

**3: Baekhyun's Love for Brownies ( & Park Chanyeol)**

 

 

By the time the credits began rolling up on the screen, most of the students started heading back to their own rooms, picking up empty soda cans and snack wrappers off the floor while Yifan went to turn the lights back on. A few students decided to stay behind so they could talk to Kyungsoo a little more, which he was really excited about because, _wow_ , people actually wanted to have a conversation with him. He learned a lot more names within the first night than he had for the past several weeks at his new home. He also found himself smiling a lot, laughing and joking around more than he normally ever would. It surprised him, to say the least, but the feeling itself was something he would never grow tired of.

Sitting beside him, Baekhyun licked off the remaining traces of salt and butter from his fingers, then nudged the empty bowl against Sehun's shoulder, "Take this back for me, will you?"

"No," the younger turned back to him with a frown.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaaasssseeee—"

"I already told you no."

"I promise I'll never ask you for another favor again," Baekhyun pleaded, "and then I'll tell Chanyeol that you can take his spot on the couch if we ever have another movie night."

The junior snorted, "you're joking."

"Nope," the older student shook his head, "scout's honor."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure the only reason why Chanyeol's even agreeing to this in the first place is the fact that he's not even conscious at the moment," Sehun eyed the snoring giant, cringing when drool started trickling down his chin like a steady stream.

"It's fine," Baekhyun replied with a wave of his hand, "I'll go over the details with him later. Trust me on this one, Sehun."

With an irritated eye roll, the junior got up from the floor, snatching the bowl out of the older student's hand while muttering something about Baekhyun under his breath. Kyungsoo didn't really get to hear any of it though, because someone was gently tugging against the plastic bowl that he had been holding in his lap.

"Hey, I can take it back for you, if you want."

"Oh, thank you, I..." the moment he looked up at the figure sitting beside him, he froze. The words that had been forming in Kyungsoo's head suddenly felt like lead on the tip of his tongue, "I, uh..."

Now that the lights were on, he had a much clearer view of Jongin's face, of his tan skin and dark brown eyes. In all of Kyungsoo's life, he had never met anyone as insanely attractive as Jongin. The student next to him was absolutely breathtaking, with full lips that were pulled back to a perfect smile. And his hair, _oh wow_ , his hair; how Kyungsoo wanted to run his fingers through it like a cat playing with a ball of yarn. He imagined himself carding his fingers through those luscious black locks, or possibly laying down on top of it to take a nap. It was neatly styled, with a couple of strands curled at the front of his very attractive forehead. Everything about him was perfectly perfect, and Kyungsoo couldn't take his eyes off of him no matter how hard he tried. The words that came out of Jongin's perfect mouth was going in one ear and flying out the other. It made his heart beat faster than ever before, and then he suddenly remembered his past conversation with Hyunsik before he moved—about his personal mission to avoid attractive boys like Jongin as much as possible. His first day here and he already had a feeling he was going to fail big time.

He must have been staring for a really long time and not saying anything, because Jongin was now tugging at the bowl with a little more force, laughing quietly when Kyungsoo still refused to budge. The sound alone sent shivers running down Kyungsoo's spine.

"You know you're going to have to actually let go if you want me to take it."

"Oh... sorry," Kyungsoo mumbled, then jerked his hand away before quickly staring down at his lap. He'd been gawking again, hadn't he? Hopefully Jongin didn't think he was too obvious.

"I guess I'll see you around then," Jongin smiled.

Once Jongin got up from the couch to leave, Kyungsoo found his eyes glued to the student's retreating back, completely mesmerized by his broad shoulders and tousled hair before he disappeared through the crowd. He silently wondered when they would ever get the chance to talk again.

He really must be out of it, because soon a whitening flare of light appeared out of nowhere and flashed into his eyes, leaving him stunned for a couple of seconds. Blinking slowly, he waited for the white stars behind the back of his eyelids to fade before staring directly at a student holding a camera in front of his face.

The boy beamed happily, "Ooh, this is a good one. I really like the candidness of this shot."

"Hey, Yixing," Baekhyun greeted cheerfully as he was trying to shake Chanyeol awake. Kyungsoo glanced at the other student and smiled. Ah, yes, Yixing. He remembered hearing that name from earlier. He was Chanyeol's roommate for the year.

Just then, Chanyeol gave a particularly loud snort, then leaned over to his right, pressing all of his weight against Baekhyun's tiny body. With gritted teeth, the latter struggled to hold himself up, then grabbed onto Chanyeol's shoulder with shaking fingers and shoved him away. He must have pushed a little it too hard though, because Chanyeol was now leaning a bit too far to his left, eventually toppling over to the other side. Before Baekhyun could grab his shirt to hold him steady, his head had already knocked against the other armest with a loud and very hard thud.

"Oh, crap..." Baekhyun winced, a pained look on his face, "hey, hey... Chanyeol, are you alright?"

They all watched as the senior responded with a quiet whimper, rubbing the back of his head sleepily before releasing another deep snore.

"Yep, I think we're good," Baekhyun sighed, then gave a gentle pat against the sleeping student's back, "so what's up with the camera, Yixing?"

"I decided to join the yearbook and newspaper club this year," Chanyeol's roommate declared proudly, holding onto his Canon like a prized trophy, "it's our final year and all, so I figured I could take a lot of pictures of the upperclassmen and publish them in the yearbook for keepsake."

"Yeah, you better," Baekhyun chuckled, "if I'm not on at least 80% of the pages, then I will never forgive you."

"I'll keep that in mind," Yixing laughed, "and make sure to grab our first newspaper issue of the year! It'll probably be out by next week." He turned to Kyungsoo with one eye squinted, holding out both his thumbs and index fingers up into the shape of a rectangle, "and your face will be on the very front page."

"Oh, no," Kyungsoo whispered, his stomach churning with anxiety, "please don't. You really don't have to—"

"No need to be so modest," the senior grinned, "and don't worry. By next week, everyone is going to know your story... which reminds me, I'm going to have to interview you and a few others sometime next week for Zitao."

With a kind-hearted salute, the senior spun around and walked away. As he headed towards the door, another student hurdled into the lounging area, dodging Yixing and his precious camera by just a few centimeters.

"Oh, hello there, Jongdae."

"Hi, Yixing. Sorry, no time to talk. I..." his words trailed off into silence, his chest heaving as he looked around the room. The senior lounge was almost empty at this point, and many of the students were grabbing their things and heading back to their dorms.

He let out a despondent sigh, "I missed the movie, didn't I?"

Baekhyun chuckled, "seems like you did. Everyone's gone back to bed now."

"Fuck..." he groaned, then dragged his feet across the carpet, plopping down on the couch to Kyungsoo's right. He grabbed one of the neighboring pillows and stuffed it against his face, "What the hell... I wanted to watch Spider-Man."

"Sorry, Jongdae," Baekhyun offered a comforting smile, "and what happened to you? Normally you don't take this long to get here on registration day."

Jongdae lifted his head up, "Kim Joonmyun, that's what happened", then dropped his head back to the pillow as he wallowed in his own self-pity.

And while Kyungsoo stared blankly, the other senior simply nodded in understanding, "ahhh, I see." He then leaned over Kyungsoo's lap to pat Jongdae on the shoulder, "there, there. No need to get so worked up."

"No, I honestly can't," Jongdae cried out, rubbing a hand over his tired face, "I don't think I'll be able to survive being his roommate for the rest of the year. He's just plain awful."

"Joonmyun's not that bad."

"Oh, no. He really is."

 _Jongdae_... Hadn't he been Baekhyun's roommate for the past three years? Kyungsoo stared at the senior with guilt gnawing at his insides. Technically _he_ had been the one who messed up the whole dorm assignment. If he had never transferred, then Baekhyun and Jongdae would still be together, meaning Jongdae wouldn't be complaining about his awful new roommate and would've been able to watch the movie along with everyone else. He bit on his bottom lip in silence.

"Maybe I should talk to Minseok about switching to another room," Jongdae murmured with a sniff, scratching an itch on his nose. He then leaned against Kyungsoo's shoulder and released another deflated sigh, "for crying out loud. I should be able to relax and have fun. It's my last year after all..."

The younger student casted a worried glance at Baekhyun, but the older student simply waved it off. Apparently this was normal everyday life with Jongdae.

"You'll get used to it," Baekhyun chimed in to Kyungsoo's relief, "don't worry about him. Jongdae here can't seem to grasp the concept of personal space." He leaned over to shout at the moping student, "and maybe you should actually introduce yourself first before getting all handsy with the new guy."

Jongdae paused, leaning his head up to peer back at Kyungsoo's wide eyes, "New guy?"

Kyungsoo nodded, then added in quietly, "I'm Baekhyun's roommate."

It felt like hours had passed before the words finally processed into Jongdae's brain that Kyungsoo had been the one who fucked up the entire room system. He swallowed nervously, mentally preparing himself in case the other student chose to beat him to the ground or strangle him right then and there; but then again Baekhyun was there beside him to help, or he could just scream out for Minseok.

"...Well, I guess it can't be helped then," the distraught student released another heavy sigh, "no, there is no way I would let you room with Joonmyun. I have too much respect for you as a friend to do something that low. I wouldn't even wish that on my worst enemy."

"Thanks..." Kyungsoo answered a bit unenthusiastically, offering a twitch of a smile in return. 

"And even if you ask Minseok, you probably won't even be able to switch," Baekhyun added, "he said all the dorms are full this year. It'd be a waste of time for students to unpack their stuff and then have to repack everything for your petty whining... and I honestly think you're exaggerating a little bit too much with Joonmyun. He's a really nice guy."

"No, don't tell me how Joonmyun is until you actually room with him," Jongdae grumbled irritably, "I literally had to spend over an hour listening to him lecture me about emergency exits and fire drills before I even got here. Apparently me and him are going to do a practice drill at three in the morning tonight. I don't even know."

"Oh," Baekhyun replied, giving a weak chuckle, "can't help you there."

With a sigh, Jongdae began distracting himself from his misery by playing with Kyungsoo's fingers. After a while, he added nonchalantly, "he has a much softer shoulder than you, Baek. It's quite nice actually..." he peered up at Kyungsoo, "you have really small hands, did you know that?"

"...Thank you?" Kyungsoo answered, a bit unsure whether he should take it as a compliment.

"Baekhyun has girly hands too, but I definitely prefer yours."

"Uh..."

"Wait a second," Jongdae frowned before leaning back up again, "you said you're new here, yeah?"

Kyungsoo nodded quietly, then pulled his hand away without the other student noticing.

"But did you even get the chance to look around the school yet?"

Now that he thought about it, he never did actually have a proper look around the campus. His only references were through the school pamphlets and what he had seen on the way here. Other than that, no. He shook his head, "No, I didn't really get to see anything."

"In that case, we should show you around before class starts tomorrow."

"But isn't it kind of late though?" Kyungsoo asked as he peered out the window, "won't Minseok get mad?"

"We'll be fine..." Jongdae said reassuringly, then added under his breath, "but let's go before he sees us."

Kyungsoo didn't seem all that convinced, but he stood up from the couch anyways, following behind the others as they shook the only unconscious student awake.

"Chanyeol, get up, let's goooo," Jongdae declared loudly. With a hard shove, he managed to roll Chanyeol off of the couch and flat onto the carpet, the latter slowly sitting up with a very dazed expression on his face. He looked hopelessly confused as he wiped the dried drool off of his chin.

"Wait, what's going on... what are we doing?"

"Being amazing friends and taking Kyungsoo around the campus," Baekhyun answered as he held out a hand. Chanyeol took it with a smile and got up to his feet.

"Okay, everybody ready?" Jongdae asked at the three other heads standing behind him. Once they all nodded, they shuffled towards the door, but instantly froze at the main entrance when another voice behind them asked loudly:

"Where do you guys think you're going?"

Standing at the corner of the hallway and getting ready for bed was Minseok, dressed in a set of warm bunny-print pajamas. He was holding a book in one hand and a steaming cup of tea in the other. He didn't look all too happy to see them.

"Er..." Baekhyun replied, batting his eyelashes, "we were planning on giving Kyungsoo a tour of the campus."

"At this time?" Minseok's eyes narrowed as he glanced at his watch, "It's already nine. Your curfew is in less than an hour. No way. You guys are going up to bed."

"C'mon, Minseok, it'll only take a couple of minutes," Jongdae groaned, "and what if poor Kyungsoo gets lost on his first day... Did you even get the chance to show him around?"

The senior D.A bit on his bottom lip, fingers clutching a bit tighter against the handle of his mug, "... Not exactly, but it was because I was fairly busy with the other incoming students." He gave an apologetic glance towards Kyungsoo, "sorry for not showing you around earlier. It was an honest mistake."

"It's fine, really—"

"No, it is not," Jongdae declared with a dramatic sigh, "we can't be with you at all times... Tell me, Kyungsoo, I can't seem to remember where the science building is located. Can you tell me how to get there?"

Kyungsoo fell silent, glancing back and forth between Jongdae, Baekhyun, Minseok, and Chanyeol. He really didn't know the answer to that question.

"Uh huh, exactly," Jongdae nodded, "and this is why we're here to help. We'll give our newest addition a quick guide of the place, show him the ropes at St. Peter's and all that good stuff, and then head straight back to our rooms. Simple as that."

Minseok seemed to be debating about it pretty hard, looking at each and every student with slight hesitance. Baekhyun and Jongdae were giving their best award-winning smiles, Chanyeol was busy trying to keep himself awake, and Kyungsoo found himself staring down an old piece of gum stuck to the carpet.

Eventually the D.A sighed, "alright, fine. Go on. But if I don't see you guys sound asleep in your rooms by 9:45, all of you are going to be in big trouble."

Kyungsoo gulped nervously, then peered at the rest of the students behind him as they all willingly nodded their heads.

"Of course, Minseok. It'll be fine," Jongdae answered with a reassuring nod, "no need to get all worried. We'll be back here in no time at all."

"Pinky promise me," Minseok narrowed his eyes, as if linking fingers together was the ultimate form of trust and faith between two people. He wasn't smiling at all, and it scared Kyungsoo somewhat because this was the first time he had seen the D.A all serious. Minseok stuck out a hand, waving for all of them to come over.

"Sure thing," Jongdae nodded, then wrapped his small finger with Minseok's, "I won't let you down."

"You too, Baekhyun."

"Cross my heart," the senior nodded, marking an 'x' over the left side of his chest and holding a hand up.

"Kyungsoo, you next."

"Um, okay..." he mumbled, and stretched out his hand. Minseok wrapped his pinky around his firmly, then said in a very hushed voice, "If Baekhyun and Jongdae do anything—and I mean _anything_ —that has you saying " _huh_ _, I never thought you could do this on school campus_ ", you go straight back here and tell me, got it?"

The student nodded quickly.

"Kyungsoo, I'm trusting you 100% on this, okay?"

"Yes, Minseok—"

"Look into my eyes."

Kyungsoo swallowed nervously as he locked his gaze with the D.A, but ended up staring at his forehead instead. He'd always been terrible at maintaining eye contact. "I understand, Minseok."

"And just to make things clear so Baekhyun and Jongdae don't try to do anything stupid, students are not allowed to egg other buildings, they are not allowed to strip naked and run across the campus, they are not, I repeat, _not_ allowed to catch squirrels and tie notes to their tails. Students are also not allowed to set up human traps in case of 'potential enemy attacks'—"

"Hey, now," Jongdae let out a nervous laugh, "that was only one time."

"Yes," the D.A frowned, "and that _one_ time led to poor old Mr. Bill handing in his resignation letter the very next day, so thank you very much for that."

"It's fine, Minseok," Kyungsoo mumbled quietly, "we're just going to walk around. No touching, no stripping, no, uh... squirrel-slash-human-catching. I'll make sure to stop them if anything does happen. I promise."

"Good," the D.A nodded, then glared at the two other students. It wasn't exactly intimidating in Kyungsoo's opinion, "and you two better behave."

"Of course, why wouldn't we behave?" Baekhyun gasped with a dramatic hand on his chest, "have I ever lied to you before?"

"Yes, you have actually," Minseok deadpanned, "like that one time—"

"Aaaaaannnndddd off we go! Let's move along now, everyone," Jongdae declared, a fist pumped into the air like an explorer about take on a journey of self-discovery. He led the way first, followed by Kyungsoo, then Baekhyun who was dragging along a clueless Chanyeol. They hobbled off towards the main entrance before the advisor rushed out and yelled loudly, "don't forget we have an assembly at 8! Make sure not to stay out too long!"

The four boys turned back to wave, then set off on their quest, following the narrow path lit up by the pale moonlight and the street lamps scattered across the campus.

"Will we really get in trouble if we don't come back in time?" Kyungsoo asked, feeling a bit nervous as they walked further and further away from the senior dorms. The campus was pretty big, which meant they probably wouldn't even be able to get through the entire school with such limited time.

"Nah, Minseok's all bark and no bite," Jongdae shook his head, and he and Baekhyun both cackled rather loudly as they stomped through the grass, the mildew clinging against their shoes. "He always threatens us, but never actually does anything about it."

"And it's not like we take advantage of him either," Baekhyun chimed in as he clung onto Chanyeol's arm, "we always listen to him anyways... or, well, try to."

"What we're basically saying is that we love Minseok very much. We would never try to do anything to piss him off on purpose."

That didn't really sound as convincing as Kyungsoo thought it would be, but both Baekhyun and Jongdae seem like they knew what they were doing, which made him feel more at ease. It was a good thing too because, without them, Kyungsoo would most definitely be lost on his very first day. He followed behind the other students obediently, glancing up at the full moon as it lit their path, listening to the gentle chirps of crickets hiding within the grass. Everything was so calm and quiet—nothing like his home back in the city.

"Well, to begin," Jongdae started, then pointed at the structure they just walked out of, "that is the senior building where you'll be sleeping for the rest of the year. We got bathrooms on each floor and, of course, the student lounge and the rooms. Pretty simple. Nothing too complex about the place." Later on, he pointed at another large building right next to the senior dorms, "over there is where all the juniors will be staying. There's also the freshman and sophomore dorms, but we don't really go there as much, though, so that's not really important."

The main office was next, which consisted of the higher-ups such as the Dean or other members of the school board. Inside the main building, there was also the nurse's office as well as the counseling room. Connected to the main structure was another building—the school cafeteria.

"Breakfast starts at 7, lunch is at 12:30, and dinner is at 5, and all grades eat together. We usually sit based on grade levels, but most people eat in classrooms, eat outside... it really doesn't matter," Baekhyun explained, "the food during breakfast is usually the same, but it's normally lunch and dinner that changes everyday."

"Friday's are probably everyone's favorite day of the week, because Mrs. Park makes the best brownies for dessert," Jongdae added as he hopped from one large boulder to another, "so you better make sure to get your hands on those before it runs out. They disappear pretty quickly."

"Mrs. Park is his mom," Baekhyun whispered as he pointed at a yawning Chanyeol, "she's a very sweet woman once you get to know her."

The latter smacked his lips sleepily.

Next was the athletic department, which consisted of a large field meant for the typical soccer tournaments and football matches. There was also an indoor stadium meant for the occasional school dances and pep rallies, and another area where the indoor pool was located. Luckily, Jongdae explained that P.E courses were only mandatory for the lowerclassmen or students in a sports team, which made Kyungsoo—who did not have one single athletic bone in his body—breathe a sigh of relief.

Eventually they stumbled on a group of buildings that were slightly clustered together. It turned out to be the classrooms, all separated based on subjects. There was the science and mathematics building, followed by a structure specifically related to liberal arts. Each floor was determined by grade level and, since Kyungsoo was a senior, his classes would most likely be on the upper floors.

They walked around for the next twenty minutes or so. Kyungsoo listened to Jongdae talking about the history of the school, how it was founded, how many students have been attending St. Peter's, and a bunch of other stuff that he never got to read in the pamphlet. Beside him, Baekhyun added a few words here and there. They joked around for a bit, then sat on top of a small hill located a few distances away from the campus. The air was calm and silent as they looked over the large campus, and Kyungsoo couldn't help but stare at all the dim lights flickering from one dorm to the next. It still hadn't really processed in his head that he was finally here.

Once they finished walking around the deserted campus, minus a few stragglers here and there, they decided it was time to call it a night and head back to their rooms. The walk back to the senior dorms was a lively one. Well, it was just Baekhyun and Jongdae doing most of the talking; Kyungsoo preferred listening to their loud bickers as it echoed through the night.

"I already told you, I didn't think that my trap was going to actually catch something."

"Well, it did," Baekhyun huffed indignantly, clinging against Chanyeol's arm, "and Mr. Bill was hanging in that net for over two hours before someone finally got him down. Don't you remember how much trouble we got into last year?"

"...I didn't mean to," Jongdae sighed, staring down at the wet grass in silence.

Eventually they headed back into the hallway, whispering quietly amongst themselves since most of the students were fast asleep. Minseok was still awake though, and he whispered a gentle "good night" before he waved the quartet off to their rooms. It was way past their assigned curfew, but the D.A didn't seem very angry about it, just like what Baekhyun and Jongdae said earlier.

They hurried into the bathroom to take a quick shower, with Baekhyun complaining majority of the time about having no running hot water left. Chanyeol thought it would be funny to pour a bucket of freezing water over Baekhyun's head from the next stall and, within the next few seconds, the entire floor was filled with a chaotic mess of angry shrieks and loud laughter.

Not wanting to be the second victim of Chanyeol's pranks, Kyungsoo rinsed off the remaining soap suds in his hair, then quickly dried himself off before getting dressed in his pajamas. He suddenly remembered the promise he made with his mother from earlier, and told the other boys that he would be leaving first.

Once he made it back to his room, Kyungsoo rummaged through his luggage for his cellphone, pulling it out of the pocket of a small backpack he had brought along. The screen lit up when he turned it back on, his breath hitching when he saw the number of missed calls all from his mother. _Oops_. Hopefully she wasn't too angry about him not picking up.

By the third ring, he could hear his mother fumbling with her phone, unsure about which keys to press before she finally answered, " _Kyungsoo, hello? Are you there? I've been calling you multiple times today. Why haven't you been answering them?"_

"Yeah, sorry about that," Kyungsoo mumbled before sinking on the edge of his mattress, "I was just hanging out with the other students and didn't have my phone on me."

" _I figured_..." she said quietly, then gasped, _"and did you say other students? A_ _re you already making friends?"_

"I guess," Kyungsoo said as he picked off a loose strand from his pajama bottoms, "everyone is very nice here."

" _Well, I'm glad to hear that. And how's your roommate?"_

"Baekhyun's nice," he smiled, looking up at the empty bed across from his, "and these two other guys, Jongdae and Chanyeol, showed me around the campus earlier today. We have a few classes together too, so at least I have them to talk to."

" _That's good... I was worried you were going to have a hard time talking to others, but I guess I don't have to be anymore_."

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine here," Kyungsoo agreed, "but what about you? How was the ride back home?"

" _It was fine. Your dad's sleeping right now because he has to go to work early tomorrow morning. Oh, and I forgot to ask. Did they send in all your luggage to your room?"_

"Yeah, everything's here," he said as he looked at the mess scattered around his dorm. He sighed dejectedly, "I should go. Still have a lot of stuff to unpack."

_"Alright then, but make sure you go to bed early for tomorrow. You know how grumpy you get when you don't get a good night's sleep..."_

"Yes, mom, I know," Kyungsoo said with a quick roll of his eyes but found himself smiling anyways. It was nice hearing his mom's voice again, even though it had only been a few hours since he'd last spoken to her, "then I guess I better get going now."

 _"Okay, dear. And I hope you have a wonderful time at your new school. Make lots of new friends and be nice to all of your teachers._ "

"I will."

 _"Well, I guess I should let you go now... I love you very much. Sleep well, Kyungie._ "

"Good night," he murmured before hanging up. The room was silent for a while, with the crickets chirping from outside his window as he finished putting away the rest of his belongings. Within the next half hour, all of his books were stacked neatly on his desk, his school uniform folded neatly at the edge of his bed. Sighing quietly, Kyungsoo buried himself underneath his covers and quickly drifted off to sleep.

 

 

\---

 

 

"Well, hate to break it to you guys but it's time for me to go," Jongdae announced, wrapping a towel around his head, "night, losers. Don't miss me too much while I'm gone."

"See you tomorrow," Chanyeol called out before the senior left. The bathroom was silent as he dried himself off, running a towel through his damp hair. Once he was finished, he slipped on his clothes and headed out of the stall.

Baekhyun was already waiting for him by the door with his arms folded across his chest, looking absolutely miserable as he shivered in his pajamas. But before Chanyeol could say anything, the agitated senior was already walking down the hallway.

"Baek," Chanyeol called out, grinning to himself when he finally caught up to him, "Baek, are you still mad at me?"

"Yes," the older student snapped a second later.

"But why?"

"Because, doofus," Baekhyun answered with a scowl, "you poured ice-cold water all over me. I could've died from hypothermia!"

"Uh, I think you might be overreacting," Chanyeol mumbled as he held in a laugh, "just a teeny-tiny bit."

Baekhyun paused midstride, spinning back around to jab a finger against his chest, "No, I am not. I have every right to be mad and you know that."

"Well, in my defense, you did push me away while I was sleeping on you and I hurt myself," the taller student said as he rubbed the protruding bump at the back of his head, wincing in pain, "and it still hurts, you know. Really hurts actually. Should I be worried?"

For a brief second, Baekhyun bit on his bottom lip, trying not to show any type of remorse or concern because the whole point of this was to show Chanyeol that he was angry, goddammit. But then again, was Chanyeol really hurt? Maybe he should take him to the nurse's office to have it checked— No, no, _stop it_. He should be the one mad at Chanyeol, not the other way around.

Instead, he crossed his arms, "So? What do you want me to do about it?"

"I don't know," he shrugged before rubbing the back of his neck, "I heard distractions tend to alleviate the pain."

"And how would I do that exactly?"

Chanyeol clicked his tongue and stared up at the ceiling, as if thinking about it really long and hard. Shortly after, there was a smug grin on his face, and he snapped his fingers within the next beat, "Aha, I got it. Kisses usually do the trick. Just one and I'll feel much better."

The way he said it so nonchalantly had Baekhyun's face heating up within a matter of seconds, the tip of his ears burning. Normally he wasn't the type of person to get so flustered at a simple comment, but Chanyeol had a way of throwing him off guard when he least expected it. The other student was now looking at him as if waiting for something, his face unwavering, and Baekhyun quickly averted his eyes away to stare at the carpet instead. All of a sudden, he turned back around and started walking again.

"Baekhyun..." Chanyeol called out softly, a teasing smile on his face. He stopped him from walking any further by grabbing onto his wrist, "Baekhyun, don't go."

 _God_ , even the way he was saying his name had the senior wanting to avoid as much eye contact as possible. The room was getting way too hot— _he_  was feeling way too hot—and Chanyeol wasn't helping with that dumb attractive face of his. Even to this day, he sometimes asked himself how Chanyeol managed to make him feel certain things that he couldn't feel towards his other classmates.

"What?" Baekhyun hissed out quietly as the senior continued to stare at him. He could feel his insides crumbling little by little, his heart at the edge of its breaking point.

"C'mon, Byun," he grinned, "you get to touch these luscious lips. It's a win-win situation for the both of us."

The older student bit on his tongue and quickly glanced over his shoulder, checking to see if anybody was lurking about. There was a brief second where he thought someone had been watching or walking about, but after waiting a couple of seconds, it only turned out to be his thundering heartbeat banging loudly against his ears like a drum. He looked around once more, then back at Chanyeol, who was now giving him that stupid, dorky smile he had fallen for a long time ago.

"Oh, for crying out loud," he mumbled, grabbing the taller student by the back of his neck and standing on the tip of his toes.

It was a quick kiss against the lips, followed by a second one, then a third. Chanyeol was starting to smile like crazy now as he was bombarded with Baekhyun's mouth pressing all over his face.

"I. Hate. You." Baekhyun mumbled in between his short pecks, "I. Hate. You. So. Much." He gave a final kiss—one that lasted much longer than the previous ones—before pulling himself away, "there, that's all you're getting."

"No," the taller student playfully whined after he opened his eyes, "just one more."

"Nope, no more for you. Your daily dosage of my wonderful kisses have been used all up," he grinned, wagging a finger, "you've exceeded your limit today, Park. Have to wait until tomorrow. So have a good night and see you in the morning!"

Just as he was about to walk away, Chanyeol had already grabbed him by the wrist, spinning him back around to a solid chest. The next thing he knew, the taller boy had his hands on his face and was now kissing him slowly, deeply, with a lot of warmth and tenderness that eventually had Baekhyun thinking " _ah, so this is why I like you so much"._ He gradually found himself melting in his boyfriend's gentle hold, wrapping his arms around the back of Chanyeol's neck to keep himself steady. It was starting to make him feel light-headed but, for some reason, he didn't want it to end.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you," Chanyeol murmured softly after he pulled away, then wrapped his arms around the smaller student, hugging him tightly. He buried his nose in Baekhyun's damp hair, "summer break was absolutely boring without seeing you everyday."

"You liar," the older student chuckled, but then fell silent. He pressed his cheek against Chanyeol's chest, listened to the quick rhythm of his heartbeat until his eyes began to droop. Chanyeol was really great at giving amazing hugs. "You... that's not what you said a few hours ago. I asked you if you missed me over the summer and, if I remember correctly, your exact words were... oh, I don't know: ' _In your dreams_ '?"

"You know I was only joking," the younger mumbled in embarrassment, "I really did miss you like crazy, I promise."

"...I know that," Baekhyun said quietly, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's waist before adding, "I missed you a lot too."

"Did you now?"

"Mhm," the older student hummed, then gave a tired sigh, "it's not exactly fun waking up to an empty house for two and a half months straight."

The smile on Chanyeol face faltered slightly. He knew very little about Baekhyun's family, but enough to understand that his parents were often busy with work, which meant that they didn't spend a lot of time at home for Baekhyun to do anything particularly interesting or fun. He also knew that Mr. and Mrs. Byun weren't exactly considered to be the most affectionate people... This was probably the first time in months since Baekhyun had received any type of physical contact with anyone.

He sighed, "Baek... I'm sorry you didn't have a very good summer."

"No, it's alright," the older student shook his head, then pressed his face deeper against Chanyeol's chest, "I'm just glad I get to be with you again. That's all that matters."

Biting on his lower lip, Chanyeol pulled away from his grasp and said quietly, "I was supposed to give you this tomorrow, but I think it's best if we do it now."

Baekhyun stared at him in confusion, "What is it?"

The younger student didn't say anything, simply walking into his room for a couple of minutes before coming back out with something that was heavily wrapped in paper napkins and pieces of tissue. When he unfolded the layers, Baekhyun found himself breaking out into a grin, "What the hell. When did you get these?"

"I asked my mom to bake a batch this morning," he said with a proud smile as he broke off a small piece of his mother's world-famous brownie, chewing on it before breaking off a larger piece for Baekhyun, "told her it was for you, so she made sure to add in some extra chocolate."

"Oh, wow," Baekhyun chewed thoughtfully, "I have to remember to thank her tomorrow at breakfast."

"You don't have to," the taller student shrugged as he bit onto another piece, "she knows how much you like it... and how much I like you..." he glanced up innocently and quickly added, "how much you like me. I think she was getting quite annoyed with me constantly complaining about how much I missed you over the break."

Baekhyun paused mid-chew, then eventually broke out into a grin, "Stop that."

"What?" he asked innocently, smiling to himself when he noticed how red Baekhyun's face was turning. It was nice seeing him get all flustered and embarrassed when he shouldn't even have to. They were dating after all, and it should be normal for Chanyeol to say nice things about his boyfriend whenever he felt like it. He would even shout his love for Baekhyun over the rooftops—megaphone, fireworks, and all—but knew the latter would be waiting for him at the bottom to beat him up to a pulp if he did anything embarrassing like that. He'd probably do it one day though, just to see what Baekhyun's reaction would be. "Did I say something wrong, Baek? I'm just simply stating the truth."

The senior shook his head, then reached over to grab another piece, "it's nothing. You're just very lame, that's all."

"Fine, then," Chanyeol huffed, quickly wrapping the layers of napkins back together before Baekhyun could grab anything, "no more special brownies for you. You really did it this time, Byun."

"No," the older student cried out, "I was just kidding!"

"I know, I know," Chanyeol snickered, then unwrapped it once more, gently placing it in Baekhyun's open hands, "here, just take it all. These were supposed to be for you anyways."

"...Thank you," the older student mumbled, eyes flickering down to the floor, "to your mom for making the best desserts, and to you for always being there for me." After a minute of silence, he glanced back up with a deep inhale, "because of you, I always look forward to coming back here, and everyone else too... you especially, though, because you're my favorite." He smiled weakly, "don't tell anybody I said that."

"Well, darn," the taller chuckled with a comical snap of his fingers, "and I was just about to run over to Jongdae's room and tell him everything you said verbatim."

Suddenly, the smile on Baekhyun's face dropped when he remembered something, "oh, I forgot about your head. Does it still hurt? Should we run to the nurse's office to have it checked?"

"No, I'm fine," he said with a reassuring nod, "your kisses definitely made it better. I don't even feel anything anymore."

"Okay, then," Baekhyun nodded, then leaned up to plant a soft kiss against the corner of Chanyeol's mouth, "good night, Chanyeol. Don't snore too loud now, or else you'll keep Yixing up all night... Did you hear he joined both the yearbook and newspaper club this year?"

"Really now?" the younger said, "well, he better make sure to put a lot of pictures of you in the yearbook. It'd be a waste if he didn't."

Baekhyun grinned again, shaking his head once more, "You and your cheesy compliments, Park."

"I only say it because I know how much you like them," he chuckled. He also also had a feeling Baekhyun didn't get to hear them too often, but that was something he kept to himself. "Just hurry up and go to sleep before we both pass out on the floor."

"Okay, no need to shout," the senior whispered as he headed off to his room, "good night."

"Good night, Baek," Chanyeol mumbled, leaning his head against the wall as he waited for the older boy to close the door first. Baekhyun didn't though. Instead, he ran back to him, smiling cheekily as he held him by the back of his neck and kissed him again.

"Argh, enough with the kisses, Byun. Go to bed!"

"Fine, fine, I'll be going," Baekhyun stuck his tongue out as he walked back to his room, "Good night for real this time."

"Just shut the door or I'll do it for you."

The older student laughed quietly, then stepped inside his room, closing the door shut behind him. Chanyeol stood there for about a minute or so, feeling a lot happier than he had ever been before heading back to his own bed.

 

 

 


	4. The First Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *A/N: thanks for being so patient!

 

**4: The First Meeting**

 

The next morning, Kyungsoo woke up from his dreamless sleep to the sound of muffled laughter from outside his room. There was the steady rumble of footsteps storming down the hallway and he gave a quiet groan as streams of sunlight peeked through the windows and glared into his eyes, forcing him to squint. It took a while for him to finally realize that he was dorm. Alone.

As he slowly sat up, the door swung open and Baekhyun casually strutted into the room, a toothbrush lodged in his mouth. He went over to the closet and grabbed a towel from one of the hangers.

"Morning," his roommate sing-songed with a mouthful of blue toothpaste, "rise and shine, Kyungsoo. You excited for your first day?"

He yawned, smacking his chapped lips, "...No, not really."

"That's the spirit," the older student chuckled in amusement, then called over his shoulder as he headed out the door, "you should start getting ready. Breakfast starts in twenty minutes!"

He was left alone once more, and Kyungsoo couldn't help but feel his pillows gently calling out to him, beckoning him to rest for another five minutes. The back of his head eventually fell against the soft cushions and he closed his eyes, sighing deeply. Twenty minutes was more than enough time.

 

 

\---

 

 

Chanyeol was already waiting outside the hallway with droopy eyes, his uniform appearing as if it hadn't been washed or ironed in weeks despite the fact that it was their first day of class. He scratched the side of his face and gave a subtle nod towards Kyungsoo. Baekhyun came out soon after with a bright and chipper smile on his face and eventually led the way to the dining area while the other two boys followed close behind.

"I'm sure there are plenty of others who are willing to sit with you during class," Baekhyun said once they sat down at one of the tables. He helped himself to a bowl of cereal, "you remember how everyone treated you the other night. There's no doubt they're going to act the same today."

"And on the bright side, at least you and I have stats together," Chanyeol chimed in, patting a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. He cupped a hand over his mouth and leaned over to Kyungsoo, "while Baekhyun over here had to be in Honors Calculus. What a nerd."

"I just have a passion for derivatives and Riemann sums," the older student frowned.

"Uh huh," Chanyeol nodded. His eyes flickered back and forth from Kyungsoo to Baekhyun, "that's definitely what a nerd would say."

The older student retaliated with a casual flick of his cornflake, which hit Chanyeol right on the tip of his nose before dropping into his glass of milk.

"Hey..." he grumbled, then grabbed a spoon to fish out the floating piece of cereal from his drink.

"Just because you're covering your mouth doesn't mean I can't hear you," the older student gave a bitter huff, "and learn how to whisper. I could probably hear you from the other end of the table."

Meanwhile, Kyungsoo could only hope, but the gnawing anxiety was still lurking somewhere in him. Baekhyun was right. There probably would be a lot of students in the same class that he met the night before, so it wouldn't be that much of a difference. And at least Chanyeol was—sort of—reassuring with his words.

A few minutes later, Jongdae strolled into the dining hall while whistling a happy tune, plopping on the bench right next to Baekhyun.

"Morning, everybody," he cheerfully sang, "lovely day, isn't it?"

"Looks like somebody's in a good mood," Chanyeol smiled, "heard you had your drill with Joonmyun last night. How did that work out for you?"

The senior snorted as he reached over to pour himself a glass of orange juice, "Didn't do it."

"Really?" Baekhyun's eyes widened as he swallowed a mouthful of cereal, "how'd you get out of it?"

"It was a lot easier than you think," the boy barked out a laugh, setting down his drink to recall the events from last night. Apparently Joonmyun did wake up in the middle of the night to get him prepared, dressed in his typical emergency post-apocalyptic gear, and he even went above and beyond to produce flashing lights and an alarm that replicated the shrill cry of a fire alarm. The older student had assigned him to be the one in charge of keeping the key, which led to him following behind an eager Joonmyun out to the hallway before casually turning back around into their shared room, locking the door behind him, and snuggling back into his covers. The sound of Joonmyun banging against the door had been nothing but a gentle lullaby rocking him back to sleep.

"He's probably still pissed at me," the senior chuckled, and the four looked around the dining area in search of the particular student.

A few tables down from where the four boys were sitting, Joonmyun was practically sulking into his untouched oatmeal. The older student glanced up from his food, then gave a rather sad-looking gaze before letting out a dramatic sigh, dropping his spoon back into his lukewarm bowl with a plop.

There was a smirk on Jongdae's face right as he turned back to his breakfast.

"Poor thing," mumbled Baekhyun as he stared at the senior sitting at the very end of the table, "I've never seen him so sad before... Was it really that necessary, Jongdae?"

"Don't care," Jongdae shrugged before munching on a piece of toast, "he's making my life a living hell, so I'm simply reciprocating it."

Kyungsoo glanced back at Joonmyun for a spare minute. He did feel sorry for the guy, but then again he wasn't the one being forced to wake up at three in the morning to the sound of fake fire alarms and flashing lights. He just kept eating instead.

"So heartless," Chanyeol quietly laughed, shaking his head, "just let the kid enjoy his time a little. It's his senior year too. I haven't seen him this down before."

"And did you leave him outside in the hallway for the rest of the night? Please tell me you didn't." Baekhyun frowned. 

"No, I think he went to Minseok's room and asked him to open the door with a spare key," Jongdae mumbled in between bites, "and of course I got a huge lecture from Minseok. He hasn't spoken to me since."

"You ass," the eldest of the group declared, and Jongdae merely responded with a snicker.

 

 

\---

 

 

Once they finished with their breakfast, the four headed straight to the school's auditorium located a few distances away from the dining area. Many of the students were already starting to roam around the campus or lounging around on the grass, enjoying their last few minutes of freedom before the fall term began. The sun was beating down against their backs as they hurried to the large building, and they quickly found a few empty seats in the middle of the crowded room.

Not surprisingly, Chanyeol fell asleep again the moment they found their seats, with his head rested against Baekhyun's shoulder as the room gradually filled with students. The older student had to pinch his friend awake when he started drooling on his shirt.

Even Kyungsoo was on the verge of falling asleep too, but kept his eyes open as much as possible as the school's dean ventured on and on about curfew, classroom and dorm etiquette, cell phone policies, and other stuff that Kyungsoo already knew.

 By the time he began reciting through the school dress code, Jongdae finally cracked.

"Welp, this is getting boring," the student released a heavy sigh, then bent over and reached into his schoolbag. After a few seconds of mindless rustling, he pulled out what looked like a small blowgun, then started to polish it with the bottom hem of his shirt.

"Uh..." Kyungsoo nervously eyed the object in Jongdae's hand before whispering. All of Minseok's previous warnings came crashing down on him, and he grabbed onto Jongdae's elbow hesitantly, "I... don't think you should do that."

"Relax, it'll be fun."

Jongdae's words obviously didn't make him feel any better, but he just kept silent and watched as the student next to him put the plastic pipe up to his lips, cheeks puffed as he took a large lungful of air and fired the weapon. He couldn't exactly see where it went, but a few seconds later, a young boy sitting a few rows ahead let out a strangled yelp, slapping his palm against the back of his neck. A few students turned to look at him warily, and standing near the wall of the auditorium, the senior D.A turned to look at Jongdae with a frown.

The student—Sehun, as it turned out—whipped his head around, trying to find the person who did it before his eyes landed directly on Jongdae.

The latter merely waved his fingers with a smirk, making soft kissing noises that had the junior's face turning just as red as the spot on the back of his neck before he faced back to the front again. Beside him, Jongin turned around too, snickering at an amused Jongdae before his gaze eventually fell on Kyungsoo. They stared at each other for the briefest of seconds until the younger man gave a soft smile and turned back around to the stage.

The rest of the assembly went by in a blur, with Kyungsoo spending the majority of the time staring at the back of Jongin's head. His hair was actually quite nice from behind... and he had really broad shoulders too. And even throughout the assembly, Jongin would also turn back around a few times and make eye contact with Kyungsoo, but the latter was quick on his feet, shifting his gaze towards something else before the other boy could even notice he'd been staring (which he wasn't, mind you).

"Now I would like everyone to please stand up for the school's pledge," the old man announced.

Chairs squeaked against the wooden floors as everyone slowly got up to their feet.

"Chanyeol," Baekhyun hissed as he violently grabbed him by the shoulder, "get up!"

The young boy shot up with a surprised jolt, arms flailing and legs kicking in the air before losing his balance. The back of his chair as well as the rest of his gangly body ended up crashing on the floor, and everyone in the auditorium craned their necks to look at the mess in the center of the room, whispering and snickering under their breaths while Baekhyun was quickly trying to help him back up on his feet.

"I'm good," Chanyeol loudly declared in front of everyone as he shot back up from the floor. He gave a sheepish smile towards the man onstage, "everything's good. No need to worry, sir."

Baekhyun shut him up with a sharp elbow in the gut.

"...Anyways," the man coughed into his fist as he flipped to the correct page, "let's begin."

 

 

\---

 

 

With their first day finally over, Kyungsoo found himself hunched at his desk as the sunny afternoon skies transcended into evening, piles upon piles of textbooks and papers stacked next to him as he finished a paper for one of his classes. It still made no sense to him that his teachers assigned homework on the very first day. Most of his teachers went straight in with their lessons after brief introductions while a few others decided they would spend the first week with simple icebreakers. Even his roommate had spent the majority of their time at dinner complaining about the massive workload they've received for the following week, which obviously meant less time hanging out with Chanyeol and Jongdae and more time cooped up in their dorm.

Only a few minutes had passed since they started working, the sound of pencils scratching against paper and pages being turned before Baekhyun let out something akin to a strange gurgle mixed with a strangled groan, falling dramatically back against his bed. "Kill me now," he declared, "I can't handle another second of this."

"It's only our first day," Kyungsoo responded with a chuckle. He flipped a page in his textbook as he continued jotting down notes.

"I know, but I think I've been diagnosed with senioritis since freshman year," the older student moaned. He lifted the textbook that had been laying flat on his stomach, "I don't even know what I don't know."

Just as Kyungsoo was about to reply, he was suddenly cut off by the sound of a gentle knock on the door.

Baekhyun released another tired groaned, rolling his body so he could pick at a loose string on his pillow, "I don't even have the motivation to go get the door. Will you do it for me, Kyungsoo? Pretty please?"

The younger boy sighed as he got up from his desk, theories and formulas tucked in the back of his mind as headed towards the door. Lo and behold, their dorm advisor was standing on the other side.

"Minseok," he said with a grin, "what are you doing here?"

The D.A gave a soft smile as he stepped into the room, settling himself down on the edge of Kyungsoo's bed, "Just checking on you guys after your first day back." He glanced around the room for a second, "how's everything so far?"

" _Iaammmffff_ ", Baekhyun moaned out. He grabbed his textbook and shook it in the air, "I hate this stupid thing."

"...Guess some of us are not taking it as well as others," came an amused chuckle from Minseok, but he soon tilted his head towards Kyungsoo, "what about you?"

The latter shrugged as he settled back on his chair and spun around in thought, "I don't know. It's okay, I guess. I'm just getting used to everything."

"Yeah, it's very overwhelming at first, but you'll get the hang of it in no time," the dorm advisor agreed. He fell silent for a moment, lost in his own thoughts before he added, "and you guys both know it's your last year... Have you decided on which colleges you're planning on applying for?"

Baekhyun lifted his head at that, and he quickly sat up from his pillow, leaning his back against the wall. Even Kyungsoo had fallen silent, his movements still, and the eldest of the three glanced at the two of them before pursing his lips, "Now's the time to start considering what you guys will be doing after you're done with this place. I'm just giving you guys a heads up."

"We know," Baekhyun mumbled as he drew his knees up to his chest, "I mean, I've been doing pretty good these past few years, so hopefully I'll be able to get in any university..."

"But at the same time you guys have to remember that they're not just considering grades," the D.A quietly elaborated, "they're looking at plenty of other stuff. Sports, activities outside of school, a bunch of things." He turned to Kyungsoo, "are you thinking of maybe joining a sports team? It looks pretty good on university applications, especially if you want to earn a scholarship."

A mild blush slowly crept up on Kyungsoo's neck and the tip of his ears, "Not a really big fan of sports."

"Ah, okay then," Minseok nodded for a moment, "then how about clubs? Those look good too."

"Not too sure about that either," he mumbled as he tapped his pen against his desk. His gaze shifted from the dorm advisor down to his papers, bottom lip caught between his teeth. Now that he was collecting everything together, it was starting to dawn on him that now was the time to get serious. It was his last year after all, and most universities were trying to find anybody that stood out from the rest of the demographic. The stress of a high school senior was a feeling he certainly did not enjoy.

"I'm sure you'll be able to find a club that fits your interests," Minseok said with his back leaned against the wall, "there are literally hundreds of clubs that you can join. If you can think of an interest, there's probably a club for that."

Kyungsoo shrugged again, "I don't know..."

"Then what do you like to do? Any interesting hobbies maybe?"

"Uh..." the younger thought for a moment, "I don't know. I guess anything that has to do with volunteer work or something? That'll probably look good on a college app."

"Oh," Baekhyun joined in, "then you should join Club EXO. Chanyeol and I are in it."

Minseok's eyes lit up at that, and he turned to Kyungsoo with a grin, "actually, that's a really great idea. What do you guys do in there?"

The other student scratched the back of his neck, "all kinds of stuff. We do fundraisers, do a bunch of volunteer work around the school, and we also go on field trips if we have enough funding. It's really fun, and we sometimes just hang out in the classroom if we're not doing anything. It's on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we have our first meeting tomorrow at lunch."

"Huh," the younger man mumbled, then turned his head to find two pairs of ears looking at him. It took every ounce in his body to not shrivel up in his chair, or perhaps just crawl and hide underneath his desk until all the stress went away on its own. "Okay, yeah. I guess I'll give it a shot."

"Sounds great!" Minseok sing-songed as he got up from Kyungsoo's bed, smiling at the two as if they were his own children, "Baekhyun, make sure to tell him where the classroom is and as for the both of you, make sure to do everything you can. Your last year goes by a lot quicker than you think." And with an eager pump of his fist, Minseok was out the door before Kyungsoo could utter out a single word.

 

 

\---

 

 

Kyungsoo couldn't really find it in him to just walk through the doors leading to the so-called Club EXO that Baekhyun had described the other day. Kyungsoo had just finished three of his classes for the day and now most students were walking around the campus or lounging around in other classrooms for their lunch break. By just standing outside, he could already hear faint murmurs and shouts coming from inside the classroom, could see the faint outlines of shadows running around through the blurred panels. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were probably in there, he wondered to himself, yet his feet remained planted on the ground with his hand hovering over the handle, refusing to move.

He didn't really have much time to make a solid decision because the door was now opening and someone was stepping out, and that person in particular was none other than Jongin.

"Oh—" the junior shouted in surprise when the door knocked against the boy's hand. He looked at him rather apologetically, "sorry, did I hit you?"

"No, um, you're fine," Kyungsoo was quick to reply, fighting down the blush that was creeping up the back of his neck. He totally forgot how attractive Jongin was from up close and was suddenly hit with the reminder that the boy was insanely good-looking.

They stood like that for about a minute or so before Jongin finally broke the awkard silence and pushed the door open wider, "So are you going to come in?"

The senior blinked (for exactly how long, he wasn't sure), "Yes." Yet he still remained standing in the same exact spot as he had been for the last five minutes.

Eventually the latter gave a quiet laugh, then reached over to grab onto Kyungsoo's arm and nudged him inside, "there's a few empty seats left. Don't worry, we haven't started anything yet."

"T-thanks," Kyungsoo answered with a squeak and shuffled into the room just as the junior walked out. He stood there awkwardly, scanning around the roomful of freshmans, sophomores, juniors, and seniors for a familiar face until he found Chanyeol and Baekhyun sitting in two desks that were pushed towards the very back of the room, huddled together over trays of food and juice cartons. He hurried over to the two and grabbed the empty seat in front of them.

"Oh, hey. You made it," Baekhyun grinned, then stretched his arm out with a bag of chips, "want some?"

The younger politely declined before taking a few seconds to look around the room, a bit surprised to see how many people were actually here. All of the desks were filled by now, and yet more students were piling in and finding a spot to sit. Some were starting to sit on the floor while others were making themselves comfortable on the metal filing cabinets. There were a few other students he recognized, and he shyly waved as they came into the room and greeted him. He turned to the two seniors behind him, "There's a lot of people here."

"Yeah, but they don't stay for very long," said Baekhyun through a mouthful of food, "usually we end up with fifteen to twenty people by the end of next week."

Kyungsoo nodded wordlessly, but soon lifted his head up to the sound of two male voices entering the classroom. Jongin was the first student to step into the room holding a water bottle and a bag of chips, turning to the other boy behind him with an amused snicker, "this is the first time I've ever witnessed you consider joining a club—"

"Shut up," Jongdae interrupted, a bitter scowl on his face, just as the junior scampered away to his spot right beside Sehun. The senior looked around for a moment until his eyes finally landed on the three before he sauntered over, dropping his backpack to the floor and taking the empty chair right next to Kyungsoo.

"Wait, hold up," Baekhyun announced with his jaw hanging open, "am I hallucinating or is Jongdae actually walking into Club EXO? Somebody call the press— no, call Yixing. He has a camera." He stood up from his chair as he looked around the room, "where the hell is he..."

"Okay, why do people act so shocked that I'm here?" Jongdae snapped. He turned his head to catch a few other students whispering and stealing glances over in his direction, and the group immediately ducked their heads down the moment the realized they had been caught gawking.

Chanyeol shrugged as he tore open another bag of pretzels, "Well, I think one of the main reasons is the fact that you've never stepped foot in this room. Oh, and also how you mentioned back in freshman year that you would never ever join a club even if your life depended on it." He tapped a finger on his chin, then shrugged as he resumed back to his food, "so yeah, maybe that's the reason, but who knows."

Jongdae rolled his eyes, snatching the crumpled bag out of Chanyeol's hands as he helped himself to a few pretzel pieces, "and I would've stuck with my word if it weren't for my stupid counselor. She told me I had to sign up for a club if I wanted to get into university. Apparently I can't just get in with my _'mediocre grades and lack of athletic participation_ '. What kind of bullshit is that."

"On the bright side, at least you and Joonmyun can try to get along in here," Baekhyun grinned. He along with the rest of the group knew how Jongdae and Joonmyun weren't exactly on good terms at the moment, and the scowl on Jongdae's face continued to prove that the two still hadn't settled anything.

The other student merely rolled his eyes and continued eating the rest of Chanyeol's snack much to the latter's dismay, the latter reaching out to grab his food back only to be met with Jongdae's hand swatting him away. Chanyeol sat back in his chair with a sigh of defeat.

"M-may I have everyone's attention please?" Joonmyun squeaked out. As soon as everyone settled into their seats and fell silent, he gave a smile, albeit nervous, and introduced himself to the room. "So, uh, this is Club EXO's first meeting of the year, and I'd like to thank everyone for joining today. And for those of you who choose to stay and pursue further in the club, it is very much appreciated. Also, there are a lot of new faces that I'm seeing, so I think it's best if I introduced this club and the purpose of it. Club EXO is mainly focused on participating in activities outside of school, such as local fundraisers, charities, and other fun activities that we can come up with throughout the year. All the events that you participate in for this club can be recorded into your community service hours, so if any of you need to catch up on that—which is forty for all four years of high school, mind you—this is a great way to get to know your classmates as well as the people living around the area and also provide for the community..." He flattened the nonexistent wrinkles on his shirt, then hurried over to the desk beside him, holding up a clipboard for the entire room to see, "I'm also going to pass around an attendance sheet. If you guys for sure want to be a permanent member, then just fill it out with your information and give it back to me when everybody's done filling it out."

The club president handed it to the student sitting in the front row, and soon people were filling out their names and moving it along to the next closest person. The room was growing louder now that the announcements were over, and Kyungsoo quietly thanked the student who handed him the piece of paper, now filled with a list of names, grades, and other bits of writing. He grabbed a pen out of his backpack and filled out his information, then continued putting in Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongdae's since their hands were too occupied with their snacks. He was the last person with the clipboard as Kyungsoo looked around the room, and he took a glimpse of all the names on the list, pausing momentarily at Jongin's slightly messy handwriting before he got up from his chair and walked over to Joonmyun.

"I think everybody filled it out." Kyungsoo passed on the clipboard for Joonmyun to take.

"Oh, great," the club president beamed happily and placed it on the desk. He shuffled through the paper for a moment, reading through the list of names before he looked up with a polite smile, "Kyungsoo, right? You're the new student rooming with Baekhyun."

"Yeah," the latter nodded. He started wringing his hands together, figuring he should get to know the club members a little bit more now that he was officially a part of it, "so, uh, what does EXO stand for exactly?"

At that moment, Joonmyun's face brightened like two suns colliding into one, almost as if he'd been waiting for somebody to ask him that exact question ever since he started the club. He started flattening out the wrinkles on his shirt once more, which Kyungsoo soon realized was a habit that the senior often did when he was nervous. "W-well, the 'E' and 'X' stand for extracurricular while the 'O' is short for opportunities. It was easier for everyone to remember... Plus, it was really hard to fit all of that on a poster, so we had to shorten it somehow."

Kyungsoo gave a quiet laugh, which was more out of politeness than actual humor, "That's pretty cool."

The club leader gave a quiet giggle, "Yes, it is actually. I'm glad you asked that."

 

 

\---

 

 

From a few feet away, Chanyeol quietly elbowed Baekhyun as he listened in on the conversation and leaned in to whisper into his ear, "I bet you can't say it five times fast."

"Say what five times fast?" Baekhyun looked up in curiosity with a mouthful of potato chips.

Chanyeol nodded his head towards Joonmyun, "Extracurricular opportunities."

"Pretty sure I can," the older boy smirked after swallowing down the rest of his food. He cleared his throat, brows furrowed in concentration right as he started, "Extracurricularopportunitiesextracurricularopportunitiesextracucci— Crap."

Chanyeol snickered, then teased the smaller male a little further with a gentle flick on Baekhyun's nose, "I win."

Baekhyun frowned as he fished through his bag, taking another bite, "It's actually a lot harder than it looks."

"Hold on, let me try..." the senior trained his eyes to focus on an odd speck on one of the ceiling tiles, "Extracurricularopportunitiesextracurricularopportunitiesextracurricularopportunitiesextracurricularopportunitiesextr— FUCK!" There was a sudden jolt of that pain surged through his lower hip like someone stabbing him with a knife, and he looked down just as Baekhyun jerked his hand back on his lap. The latter started whistling quietly to an off-key tune of Row Row Row Your Boat, pretending to act completely oblivious to the world.

"You..." Chanyeol, with his face turning severely red, pointed an accusing finger at the shorter boy and hissed out, " _saboteur!_ "

"Whaaaaat? Me?" Baekhyun's eyes widened in feigned innocence, placing a hand on his chest, "I would never..."

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes, "oh, but you did."

"...I can't believe you would accuse me for something so ridiculous," the older boy shook his head in disgust, then looked away with his chin held high in the air, "I'm disappointed in you."

"No, no, no. Not this time. Don't make me look like the villain, Byun."

"I'm absolutely astonished," Baekhyun continued to argue, "absolutely dismayed, flabbergasted, gobsmacked that you had to resort to these petty accusations."

"You're just mad that I was going to beat you at something," Chanyeol mumbled under his breath.

"Nope, try again," Baekhyun responded with a shake of his head, then added soon after, "and if I  _were_  to sabotage you, I would do it like this."

All of a sudden, a loud yelp ripped out of Chanyeol's throat when Baekhyun's thumb and index finger grabbed onto a small surface of his skin before giving him a playful pinch. He held his side, eyes watering from the pain, before turning to Baekhyun and hissing out, "I'm not talking to you anymore."

The satisfied grin on Baekhyun's face soon dropped to a look of worry, "Chanyeol..."

He clearly wasn't having it. Chanyeol turned to face the other direction with his chin raised in the air, avoiding the quiet badgering from the boy sitting next to him. Nonetheless, Baekhyun was still trying anything just to grab his attention. Tapping him on the shoulder, squeezing him on the arm, or leaning close until their shoulders knocked against each other, yet Chanyeol refused to acknowledge the boy's presence. He wasn't even doing it for the pain (which had subsided a while ago) but decided to continue further for the sake of maintaining his pride.

But Baekhyun continued to pester and pout, grabbing onto Chanyeol's elbow and pressing his nose into his shoulder, "...Okay, maybe I shouldn't have done that."

The latter simply continued staring straight ahead. Was it just him, or was there a pesky fly constantly buzzing around his ear?

"Yeol, I'm sorry... I was only joking."

Still no response, which made Baekhyun realize the only way to get into Chanyeol's heart was through his stomach. The older boy sighed, then offered his bag of chips with a faint smile, "Truce?"

Chanyeol turned his head slightly, his eyes shifted towards the crumpled bag, then back up at Baekhyun with annoyance, "I want the rest of it."

"Uh..." the latter rattled the bag and peeked inside. He still wasn't really finished with his food. "How about half?"

"Everything," Chanyeol interjected.

"Three-quarters?"

"All or nothing, Baekhyun, I'm dead serious. And you're going to have to get me another pack." He held his side with a pout, "after what you did to me..."

There was a long pause of silence as Baekhyun's gaze flickered from his snack to Chanyeol and then back down to the snack he was holding before he gave a deep exhale, handing it over to the latter, "fine. It's all yours."

Within seconds, there was a bright and chipper smile on Chanyeol's face as he snatched the bag out of the boy's hand, munching happily on his chips before licking the salt off of his fingers. He chewed for a moment, lost in the world of salty goodness before he turned to Baekhyun, "I'm not mad at you anymore."

The senior chuckled as he wiped his fingers clean with a napkin, "I figured."

"...I would never be mad at you actually." Chanyeol mumbled out, then looked up with his stupid puppy-dog eyes that Baekhyun absolutely adored. The latter simply responded back with a smile.

Yet somehow their hands met underneath the table, fingers lacing together as they happily finished the rest of their lunch while the club president continued to chat away about the upcoming club events to the rest of the classroom. It was discreet enough where no wandering eyes would be able to catch them, but the roomful of students was already chaotic enough as it was for anybody to notice. And in the midst of the shouting and laughing, not one student caught the split second where Chanyeol lifted Baekhyun's fingers up to his lips before giving a brief kiss against the back of his hand. He quickly tucked their hands back underneath the table, away from view. Beside him, Baekhyun was biting back his own stupid grin, and he soon responded back by gently squeezing Chanyeol's palm. 

It was their own little secret. A secret he truly cherished with his life.

 

 

\---

 

 

"Since we're all here today and it's our first meeting, I figured the best way to get this club up and running is to start with a fun little activity," Joonmyun announced to the entire room, "who here knows how to play Assassin?"

Most students were starting to whisper excitedly with each other, while others—more specifically, Kyungsoo—looked more lost than anything. But luckily one student, Zitao, shot his hand up and said he didn't know how to play, which made Kyungsoo sink back in his chair in relief.

"Okay, well, first we're going to put everyone's name into this hat," the club president elaborated, grabbing a baseball cat from the table for everyone to see, "and one by one, we're all going to pick out a name from it. Also, if you get your own, then you should put it back and pick somebody else. The person you get is your target for the rest of the semester. Your goal as an assassin is to kill off your target, then the person you killed will give you their target, and so on and so forth. You have to follow by some rules though. Like you have to kill somebody with no witnesses around, because it won't count if you try to kill your target and somebody else sees you. So for example, if I get you, Zitao, then I would have to try to get you when nobody else is around to see."

The junior frowned as he processed all the rules together, "and I can't even try to defend myself?"

"You can actually," Joonmyun nodded, then crossed his arms into the shape of an 'x', "we do this as a way to protect ourselves for the potential assassin that has you as their target, but for the most part, they usually like to come after you when you least expect it. There's also safe zones around the campus too. You're all safe in your own classrooms... We don't want to interrupt the teachers like last time."

"Oh yeah," Jongin chuckled to himself, folding his arms across his chest, "good times..."

"What happened?" Zitao asked as he turned around in his seat.

The junior leaned back against his chair until only two legs were holding him up, "Well, I had Sehun last year and I wanted to do it while he was in class, so—"

"Jongin convinced everyone to turn their backs so he could run inside and kill me," Sehun loudly interjected before he shot a glare at the other student. The latter smiled back at him proudly. "which I thought was unfair since I was in the middle of my presentation" His frown turned darker, "I couldn't even protect myself in time."

"It's called smart strategy," Jongin smirked, tapping against his temple, "you gotta do what you gotta do."

"Unfortunately we won't be able to do it during class time," Joonmyun said with a weak smile, "it interrupts the teachers as well as the students' learning process, so we should do it when we're out of class. And I already filled out all the names so everyone can just go around the room and pick a name out of the hat. Don't show or tell anybody who you have!"

One by one, Joonmyun allowed each club member to pull out a folded piece of paper. The room was filled with hushed, excited whispers. A few had already looked at the name of their targets before quickly tucking their paper into their pockets or schoolbags. And as Joonmyun grew steadily closer, Kyungsoo's heart continued beating faster and faster, turning to look at Jongdae, then at Baekhyun and Chanyeol.

"Kyungsoo, your turn!" Joonmyun cheered out, shaking the hat a little to get all the papers from the bottom, "remember everyone: keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer."

He reached his hand inside the hat, shuffling through random pieces before he was finally able to grab onto one. He held it tightly in his palm, and just as Joonmyun moved on to the next student, he opened the paper and read the name written inside.

_Sehun._

Okay. He could work with that. Kyungsoo glanced up from his desk and looked for the junior sitting a few rows ahead of him. He and Jongin were arguing over something, only to him bat away the latter's hand as Jongin went in to pinch his nose. Sehun definitely looked like someone who could easily fall into his trap... but then again he never really got the chance to talk to the junior, so suddenly befriending him now would make him look suspicious. The inner cogs in his head were working hard, and he looked back at Baekhyun and Chanyeol as the two secretly looked at the name of their targets before hiding back their smiles of glee.

"Everybody ready?" Joonmyun announced moments later. The classroom cheered back in response, eager to get started with the game. The club president stood in front of the classroom, staring down at his watch until the seconds ticked down to exactly 12:30 sharp.

"As of now, Assassins has officially begun!"

 

 

 

 


	5. Friends & Enemies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new update! c: thanks for everyone who waited!

**5: Friends & Enemies**

 

If a person were to ask Joonmyun to write a single word that would best describe him, he would do you one better and come back with five pages—double-spaced, complete with a header and footer, along with all of his resources typed out neatly at the very back. He was a boy who loved going above the extra mile, loved ticking off the various tasks on his planner by the end of the day. And in that paper there would be not one, not two, but an entire list of traits that he thought suited him the best. Disciplined, responsible, compassionate, honest, loyal. The overall qualities of a well-rounded leader.

And then there was patience, a characteristic he  _thought_  he had, but soon realized he was far from it. He was President of Club EXO, former student volunteer at the local hospital in Rosemore, member of St. Peter's ASB and student board, as well as others that that couldn't fit in his resume. There were many things under his belt, but he secretly enjoyed the feeling of getting things done. And after years of having to deal with grouchy seniors at the nursing home and volunteering to look after children who liked to smear boogers and saliva onto any inch of exposed skin on his body, the amount of people he dealt with were absolutely no match to his one and only roommate.

Jongdae was, by definition, the complete opposite of him. Not only would he turn in his single-worded assignment three weeks later, he was irresponsible, lazy, childish, and hated helping others with the burning passion of a thousand suns combined into one. The overall epitome of what Joonmyun steered away from. To think that they were roommates for the upcoming nine months... Joonmyun sighed, closing his eyes as he lifted a hand to rub at his temples. He could feel his migraine coming back again.

He was so lost in his own train of thought that he failed to notice how class had already finished a few minutes ago and how most of the students in his Honors Human Anatomy class were already packing up their things and heading out. He sat there for a moment, still in some sort of weird daze before he snapped out of it and finally shot up from his chair.

"Mr. Evans," Joonmyun greeted the older gentleman standing in front of the blackboard with a polite nod, "I just wanted to give you next week's assignment. I checked your syllabus earlier this week and figured I could work on it ahead of time." He handed the man his paper—four pages, neatly stapled at the top left corner, name, date, title. He mentally checked that task off of his to-do list.

"Oh, that's very responsible of you," the man blinked at him in surprise, then nodded, packing Joonmyun's work in his briefcase, "but you shouldn't have to worry about falling behind in this class. Judging from our practice exam yesterday, it seems like you already have some type of knowledge in this subject."

"Thank you," he smiled, then collected the rest of his things, "I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Have a nice rest of your day, Joonmyun."

Normally by the time lectures were over, Joonmyun would head off to the school library in order to prepare for the upcoming events for his club, or he would take an hour or two there to finish the rest of his homework before heading off to the dining hall. But there was that annoying headache coming back again, and he suddenly had the urge to just go to his room and rest for a bit. His eyelids were growing heavier by the second as he walked into the senior dormitories and up the flight of stairs, yet his mind was still hard at work. If he took a nap for one hour, he would have just enough time to work on his Economics paper as well as get ahead on his Honors Literature reading. After that, he would have dinner then come back to his room to finish up on next week's assignments. More and more daily tasks filled his head as he made his way down the hallway, fishing in his pocket for his room key. He hummed to himself as he unlocked the door. After much thought, he couldn’t help but think that maybe today was going to be okay aftera—

The door suddenly stopped halfway, refusing to budge even when the senior gave another push. Joonmyun blinked in confusion, then pushed again. The door remained still. He frowned, using all the force in his body until the weight behind the door finally tipped over and he stumbled into the room and into a pile of dirty laundry. He slowly got up to his feet, dusting the dirt off of his trousers until he looked up and gasped. The headache he was suffering earlier was pulsing quicker and deeper with each rapid breath he took, and he closed his eyes, then opened them again, hoping that somehow the horrific sight in front of him would disappear to what it had been this morning. In every nook and cranny were clothes, books, notebooks, papers—anything he could possibly imagine were scattered across the floor. His body trembled at the scene, and he slowly shuffled over to his bed, careful to avoid the trousers and dress shirts that were thrown all across the carpet. No, absolutely not... This couldn't be real. Just this morning the room was perfectly crisp and clean before he left for class.

The mattress sunk underneath his weight as he continued to stare wordlessly at the mess in front of him.

None of that positive, sunshine and daisies bullcrap. He groaned, his face falling into the palm of his hands. Today was most definitely not a good day.

 

 

\---

 

 

Joonmyun dragged his feet into the dining hall the next morning with a severe headache still pounding against his skull, ignoring the quiet whispers and glances from other students before settling in his usual spot at the end of the table. He grabbed an empty bowl and poured himself his usual serving of oatmeal, which half of the content from the ladle ended up splattering onto the table. He stared at the pile of goop with sunken shoulders and a tired sigh, the exhaustion finally settling in. He just couldn't find the energy to clean it up. This table was a mess, his room was a mess, and as of now his life was spiralling down into its own chaotic disarray.

Just then two other seniors headed into the dining hall, talking animatedly with each other as they headed closer and closer to his side of the table.

"Morning, Joonmy—" Baekhyun froze midstride, then grabbed onto Kyungsoo's shoulder and took a few steps backwards just to make sure he was seeing things properly. Sure enough, his eyes weren’t playing with him and there was, in fact, a tired and miserable-looking Joonmyun sitting in his spot at breakfast rather than his usual dapper persona. He and Kyungsoo exchanged wordless glances before the former asked, "Hey... are you alright?"

"Fine, fine," the older boy replied with a wave of his hand. He forced out a smile, "everything's great."

"You sure?" Baekhyun shifted his gaze towards the steaming brown puddle on the table, “really sure?”

"...Yes?"

“That did..." the younger boy paused, "not sound very convincing." He was staring straight into Joonmyun’s eyes now and the latter could feel himself shrivel up in embarrassment, opting to stare down at his lap instead. Within seconds, Baekhyun was already taking the bench across from him. “What’s wrong?”

"Nothing. It's nothing, Baek. It's not very important," Joonmyun mumbled as he picked up his spoon and then dropped it back into his food again.

"Tell me what it is and then I'll decide whether or not it's important."

Kyungsoo was sitting right next to his roommate, eyes trained on Joonmyun's hunched figure before he noticed the latter chewing on his lower lip. He didn't look like the same Joonmyun he talked during their first meeting and he quietly wondered what was making the latter feel so down on a bright, sunny day.

"I-I don't know how to put this," Joonmyun groaned out. He was fighting his inner battles, hands wrung tightly in his hair before he took a deep breath and turned to Baekhyun, "You and... Jongdae. He's been your roommate for the past three years."

"Yep," nodded Baekhyun, who then nudged Kyungsoo with his elbow, "before this dashing fellow came along and took his spot."

"Er, so when you guys were rooming together. Have you ever noticed that he was very..." Joonmyun glanced over his shoulders as he searched for a particular person in the room. He then leaned in slowly so only the two other students could hear him, "messy?"

The boy sitting across from him remained silent for a moment, the words processing together in his head, before his eyes lit up at the realization. "Oh...  _that,_ " he scratched the back of his head, "I was hoping  _you_  would be able to persuade him for me."

Joonmyun frowned, "W-wait, what?"

"Yeah, I think I know what you're talking about," mumbled Baekhyun, and he gave a weak shrug, a look that clearly meant " _I don't know what to tell you_ ". 

Kyungsoo still looked a bit lost as glanced between the two, "What's wrong with Jongdae?"

"Everything!" Joonmyun blurted out, then slapped a hand across his mouth when Kyungsoo looked back at him in surprise. "I-I mean... he's just a mess."

"He really is," Baekhyun nodded in agreement, arms crossed over his chest.

"It's like living in a barn."

"Yes, I have to agree with you on that one too."

"I don't know, it's just—" Joonmyun ran a hand through his hair and sighed deeply, "Baekhyun, please talk to him for me. He'll probably listen if you mention something about it."

"Of course I've talked to him about it and, trust me when I say this, his cleaning habits have actually improved since freshman year."

"Oh,  _god_ ," Joonmyun groaned. This was going much worse than he had imagined it to be.

Baekhyun shrugged as he started munching on a slice of toast, "If it's bothering you that much, then why don't you talk to him?"

He opened his mouth to speak, then clamped it back shut, sitting back with a look of utter defeat. Joonmyun couldn't find anything to say after several long minutes, just merely stared at his lukewarm bowl while Kyungsoo and Baekhyun looked at him helplessly.

"Are you still not talking to him?" The youngest of the three asked.

Joonmyun bit his tongue as he looked up, then shook his head silently. It had been nearly a week since they last spoke to each other, the atmosphere heavy with tension whenever they were in the same room. He thought it was going to be okay at first; he would do his own thing and not worry about his roommate, but it ended up backfiring instead because now he couldn't even look Jongdae in the eye when they were in the hallway, nor would they exchange a single word to each other before heading off to bed. He didn't like the feeling of not being on good terms with someone, especially with the person he was going to spend the rest of his senior year with. It even surprised him when he saw Jongdae's name written among the list of club members, but he never really thought of bringing it up. He secretly wondered if the other senior felt the same way.

"Joonmyun..." Kyungsoo spoke up after observing the older boy's restlessness, "you should at least tell him what's on your mind, or else you'll just go crazy when he does something that ticks you off."

"I want to, but—" the club president let out another strangled gurgle, head slamming against the table, "he really hates me. I just know it."

"Pretty sure he doesn't," Baekhyun chuckled, then stood up from his seat and leaned over to pat Joonmyun on the shoulder, "just talk to him about it. You'll feel a lot better about it afterwards." 

Joonmyun wasn't very convinced.

"Good luck," Kyungsoo called out, and the two got up from the table just as Jongdae walked into the dining hall, the latter shooting daggers as they both hurried off to their usual seating area. Joonmyun silently watched from afar as Jongdae grabbed Baekhyun by the arm and whispered something into his ear. He looked slightly ticked off, but only received a small shrug from the latter. The boy glanced over in Joonmyun's direction, his gaze lingering for a few seconds before he turned his head and followed behind the rest of his friends.

 

 

\---

 

 

The following Thursday, Joonmyun announced to the entire room that they were going to start preparing for the school's annual club rush event. It was the time where clubs, sports teams, and other organizations gathered around the campus in order to draw more attention from the lowerclassmen, he explained. Members of the board were also going to be around checking the stalls as well, so it was extremely important for them to try to stand out as much as possible. 

"It'd be nice to have more members," the club president said at the beginning of their meeting. The amount of people today was much less than there had been on Tuesday, Kyungsoo thought to himself as he glanced around the room.

Stacked behind Joonmyun were boxes upon boxes of poster boards, streamers, and other pieces of arts and crafts. He began passing it around for the other students to share. "We have only today and tomorrow to work on it, so it'd be great if you guys can take the time out of your Friday lunch to finish up on our project so we can set up our stall Saturday morning. We just need to make some type of banner, and also a few posters explaining the details of the club. You can also do a bunch of other decorations as long as it looks nice... And that's pretty much it for today's meeting. Let's get to it!"

Within the next few minutes, the classroom was filled with loud chatter as they all started working on their assigned parts. Paint, markers, and bottles of glitter were scattered across the desks and floors as people tried finding space to draw. A few students hurried outside to work on the concrete, while others gathered and pushed several desks together. The room was very much alive, and the three seniors huddled together into a little group since they were given the task to make one of the posters. They didn't really have an outline set out, but Baekhyun had just rolled up his sleeves and started painting right then and there. Chanyeol had to squeeze himself in to add in a few extra details of his own. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo was working his own part: the title of the poster which he thought was simple enough.

"Oh my god,  _Chanyeol_ ," Baekhyun shrieked after noticing a large red handprint that was smeared on the side of their banner, "stop, stop! You're ruining it!"

"Oh, shit," the latter glanced down at his palms, which were now stained with glitter glue and paint, "sorry..."

"...It's fine. We can fix this. Let's just put all our hands on the poster so it can match."

Crouched on the other side of the poster, Kyungsoo was hard at work, filling in the 'E' on the banner with as much precision as possible, his tongue stuck out in concentration. He was too busy painting in the rest of the letters until he noticed a bright flash of light, lifting his head up to find Yixing hovering above them with the same Canon he'd been carrying on the very first day.

"Yixing—"

"Shh," the Chinese student put a finger to his lips, "pretend like I’m not even here.”

Kyungsoo continued working, albeit much more awkwardly now that he knew Yixing was snapping pictures around him. He could hear the shutter of the camera, and the occasional hum as Yixing stopped to look at the photos he had taken before returning back to photographer-mode. He finished the remaining letters, smoothing out the edges and adding splatters of paint here and there to make it look more bright. It was a lot messier than he had wanted it to be, but with two other boys pushing and shoving for more room so they could add in whatever they wanted, Kyungsoo was satisfied with how it turned out.

Once they were finished, Baekhyun stood back with his hands on his hips, beads of paint splattered on his trousers as he smiled proudly at the bold, bright banner on the ground. ”Not bad. Definitely not bad,” the student whistled at their handiwork, "as long as we ignore Chanyeol's mess over here."

The latter frowned, "Hey, my side looks amazing—"

"But other than that, I think Kyungsoo's block letters make the banner really pop out," Baekhyun continued on as ignored the other student. "Nice work, kid. I think ours is the best out of the entire room."

They stood there for the next several minutes, admiring their valient efforts and artistic skills, until Sehun eventually walked up to them with his own banner he created with the other members. "Hey, guys. Check ours out." He shook the poster with a giddy smile, "it looks pretty cool, don't you think? Jongin and I worked on this. Yifan even helped out a little bit too."

Normally Kyungsoo was good at holding back his emotions. That didn't mean he was a liar... he just didn't like making others feel bad about themselves, yet the sight in front of him had him choking on his own spit.

The three stared in wordless wonder; first at the odd-looking tribal group at the left corner with flames roaring in the background, then at the black-brown blob that filled up the entire space on the right. The letters 'CLUB EX' were written in huge squiggly letters, while a very small 'O' had to be squeezed in at the edge of the poster. Sehun was still standing there with that smug smile of his as he waited for their response.

"So, uh, what's with... that thing?" Chanyeol pointed at the round object on the right.

"Huh, not really sure. I think Yifan drew it," the junior mumbled thoughtfully as he stared it.

"And these... group of people. What does that have to do with the club?"

"Hm, I don't know about that either," stated Sehun, "but anyways, I think we're going to put this up at the front of the stand so everyone will be able to see it."

"Ha, no you're not," Baekhyun declared as he shook their own banner proudly, "we're putting ours at the front."

Sehun stared at their work before his nose crinkled, "it doesn't even look that good."

"...Are you kidding me? Look at yours!"

"What's wrong with mine?" Sehun glanced down at his art piece, then back up at Baekhyun in confusion, "I don't see anything bad about it."

"You're not blind, are you? Because I feel like we're not looking at the same poster here—"

"Hey, Yixing!" Sehun called out and the boy cradling his camera spun around at the sound of his name, walking towards them with a soft smile on his face. The latter glanced over at Baekhyun's banner and his eyes widened, "Wow, that looks really good."

"See?" Baekhyun shouted with a fist pumped in the air. He wrapped an arm over Kyungsoo's shoulder, "and it's all thanks to this guy."

"Actually, you mind if I take a picture of it? I can probably put this on the club page once we start working on the yearbook."

He began snapping away, taking photos of both the banners as well as Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Kyungsoo huddled together in the frame, which left Sehun standing there with a frown marred on his face, and he grabbed onto Yixing's arm, holding up his poster like a small toddler showing his art project to his parent, "Yixing, you want to take a picture of mine? Jongin and Yifan helped me put it together."

"Oh..." Yixing's words faltered, and the smile on his face soon contorted into uncertainty, "uh..." He scratched the side of his neck, then looked across the room, "sorry, what was that? I think I just heard somebody call my name. Yes, coming! Be right back." He scampered away before Sehun could call out to him. The latter huffed out in annoyance.

"Don't look so glum, Sehunnie," Baekhyun cooed as he reached over to pinch the younger boy's cheek, cackling loudly when the latter swatted his hand away, "you know you wouldn't be able to beat B-C-K."

"B-C-what?"

"B-C-K. Stands for Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo— No, that doesn't sound very good actually... Kyungsoo, what's your last name." 

"Uh... Do?"

"Yes, much better," the older student nodded, then proceeded to hop on the nearest chair as he pumped his fist in the air and repeatedly chanted out, "B-C-D. B-C-D. B-C-D."

He towered above everybody else and within seconds the other members within the room turned to look at the two bickering teenagers screaming while shaking their posters at each other.

"BUT YOUR POSTER DOESN'T EVEN LOOK THAT GREAT," shouted Sehun, who also ended up standing on another seat.

Grinning, Baekhyun cupped a hand around his ear, "Sorry, what was that? Couldn't hear you over our legendary success."

"I SAID YOUR POSTER DOESN'T EVEN LOOK THAT GOOD. OURS IS BETTER."

"Oh yeah?" Baekhyun gave a rather evil smirk as he jumped back down onto the floor, "then why don't you call Joonmyun over and ask him for his thoughts. Whichever poster he prefers will be the one that hangs at the very top of the club's stand."

"Fine!" the junior snapped, and the two harmoniously shrieked out, "JOONMYUN", until the president hurried over to the back of the room.

"What is going on? Why are you two standing on—"

"No time for questions! Which one do you like better?" Baekhyun shouted over the older student and raised his poster in the air, "say you like ours more. B-C-D. B-C-D. B-C-D."

"Don't listen to him, Joonmyun!" Sehun interjected right after, grabbing onto the senior's arm, "say you like ours better. K-Y-S. K-Y-S. K-Y-S. Stands for Kim—because that's Jongin's last name—Yifan, and Sehun and also kill yourself, because that's what you should do!"

"OH, HELL NO. YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW."

"Holy shit," Chanyeol whispered as he started pulling back a fuming Baekhyun. The latter was trying hard to break himself free out of Chanyeol's strong grip. but only ended up flailing his arms and legs instead, "this is getting real now.”

Sehun’s eyes widened in sheer terror as he cowered behind Joonmyun’s tiny figure, peeking over the latter's shoulders despite the fact that he was at least a head taller than him.

"Guys, guys! Please calm down!" Joonmyun whimpered out, "we can have both posters on the stand if you want—"

"NO," the two spat out at the same time.

"Then can you stop trying to attack each other so I can get a proper look at your work? If not, then I'm cancelling this entire thing."

The two stopped right then at there, chests heaving and eyes narrowed into thin slits as they glared daggers into each other's face. It took several minutes for them to calm down, and Joonmyun glanced back and forth between the two club members before starting with the first banner.

"Okay then, uh..." he looked at Baekhyun's piece and almost at once his mouth dropped open in surprise, "...whoa, this is actually really good."

"What did I tell you," the latter proudly smirked, a hand placed on his hip.

"Yeah," Joonmyun nodded, "It's really great, actually. I really like the block design on the banner. Who drew that?"

As everyone started hovering around Baekhyun to see what all the fuss was about, Kyungsoo slowly held his hand up into the air, "I-I did."

"Whoa, that looks amazing!" Zitao spoke in awe after pushing himself to get a better look, "ours isn't even that good compared to yours."

"You should be an artist, Kyungsoo," another boy chimed in and the rest of the group murmured in agreement as they hovered around to look at their posters. A chorus of compliments and cheers came from the various students around him, and Kyungsoo could only respond with a blush as people came to pat him on the shoulder.

"But Joonmyunnnnn," the younger whined out, pushing the poster to the president's chest, "what about ours?"

"Hold on, just give me a second—  _Oh._ " He paused at the sight, eyes flickering from the same tribal group then over to the large splotch on the opposite side of the paper. He was speechless for a moment, at a complete loss of words while the rest of the group stood on the tip of their toes to get a better glimpse of what Sehun was currently holding.

Sehun was smiling eagerly now, and his fingers tightened on the edge of his banner, "...So what do you think?"

"...Mhm!" Joonmyun was quick to nod, his voice suddenly sounding a bit more high-pitched than normal, "it looks... awesome. Yes, very nice!"

"See?" the junior said as he broke out into a grin. He stuck his tongue out at Baekhyun, "Joonmyun says he likes it."

"That's because he doesn't want to hurt your feelings, dummy," responded the senior with a roll of his eyes.

"Joonmyun would never lie to me. If he says he likes it, then he likes it, and it's going to be hanging on the stand this Saturday. Right, Joonmyun?"

"Er..." the older student glanced back and forth once more, appearing as if he wanted nothing more than to crawl underneath one of the desks until they all went away. It took several long minutes and hundreds of eyes staring at him before he finally released an unintelligible gurgle.

"What was that?" Baekhyun asked, brows furrowed as he leaned in closer.

Joonmyun glanced down at the floor in defeat, "I-I said... okay..."

"WHAT—"

"YES!" Sehun and Baekhyun both shouted out simultaneously. The only difference was that Sehun was now standing on one of the chairs again, wearing a proud smile as he wrapped the poster over his shoulders like a cape and rested one foot on top of the desk. Baekhyun looked absolutely livid as the junior continued to dance above him like an idiot. "But Joonmyun, I thought you said you really liked ours!"

"I-I know, and I really do," the student whimpered out, and he grabbed onto Baekhyun's arm, "but just give it to Sehun, okay? He's really sensitive when it comes to these type of things... I'm sorry, Baek, I really am. If you want, you can use your poster to walk around the campus and rally in more people?"

Baekhyun bit on his bottom lip, kicking bitterly at the ground with his shoe before he mumbled out, "Fine."

"I'll make it up to you. I promise—"

"Yeah, whatever," the senior said with a wave of his hand, then muttered on his breath, "I knew this thing was rigged from the start..."

With a weak sigh, Joonmyun turned to Sehun. The younger was still bouncing around happily on the chair before he was ordered to get back down, "Okay, Sehun, don't get too excited, alright?"

"I won't. I promise," the younger quickly said as he pressed his lips together, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"And I'll only let you hang the poster up on one condition."

"Yes, anything!" he frantically nodded.

"I'll let you use this poster if..." Joonmyun suddenly grabbed onto Kyungsoo's wrist and tugged him forward, "you let Kyungsoo work on it with you guys."

The junior stood still for a brief second, eyes blank as he slipped the poster off of his shoulders and looked down at it, "I don't see anything wrong it though."

"Of course you don't, but it'd be really cool if Kyungsoo did the design of the title like he did with Baekhyun's poster. And, as club president, I think it'd be a really good idea. It's all about teamwork, right?"

Sehun was internally debating with himself, the boy thinking long and hard about his decision, before he gave a quiet nod and smiled at the older boy with a light glimmer in his eyes. It only reminded Kyungsoo of a small child, and he couldn’t help but reciprocate back with a grin of his own... until he suddenly remembered the little sheet of paper that had been safely tucked away in his wallet. The one that had Sehun’s name written on it—his target for in the game. The perfect opportunity.

But the junior didn't seem to notice the nervous glint in his eyes, nor did he see how Kyungsoo was slowly wringing his hands together behind his back as he lost himself in his thoughts of Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C...

"Kyungsoo!"

Lifting his head up to the sound of his name, the senior caught the sight of Sehun waving him over to where he and Jongin were sitting. Slowly, he walked over to the other side of the room, taking the empty seat in front of them.

"Looks like you'll be working with us," Jongin grinned, and Kyungsoo could feel his heart beating faster at the sight of his brilliant smile. He forced out a nod, then quickly looked down at the floor in embarrassment. The sound of the Sehun chanting out "Dream Team! Dream Team!" echoed throughout the rest of the period.


	6. The First Victim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *A/N: after almost 2 months of writer's block, i finally came up with this mess ;;

 

**6: The First Victim**

 

Initially, Kyungsoo did think that he had some sort of a solid plan at the very beginning. The rules seemed simple enough—know your target, kill your target—but as Kyungsoo made his observations on the junior from the dining hall, to walking to class, to going to the classroom for their weekly meeting, Kyungsoo was suddenly hit with the realization that killing Sehun was going to be much more difficult than he had originally planned. The boy was always with somebody; walking beside Jongin to class, talking to Zitao as they strolled around the campus, or sitting next to Joonmyun just because he felt like it. Whenever Kyungsoo thought he had a good opportunity to pull off a successful kill, the junior would already be one step ahead of him.

And as of now, Kyungsoo was staring at the back of Sehun's shoulders as the younger was hunched over their large banner, his tongue stuck out in concentration. He was redrawing one of his tribal men, adding grass skirts and tiki masks before continuing on with the roaring orange and red flames in the back, too immersed in his own work to even notice Kyungsoo hovering right over him from behind, fingers trembling and bottom lip caught between his teeth. Kyungsoo's heart was beating loud enough where it was pounding against his ears, and his hands clenched and unclenched into tight fists. He could do this. Killing his target was supposed to be easy, goddammit, but Sehun was now humming along to the Pokémon theme song and his shoes were poking out from underneath his bottom as he was bending over to paint— A strangled gurgle tore at the back of Kyungsoo's throat and the next thing he knew, he was blinking up at the fluorescent ceiling lights.

No. He couldn't do it. He was mentally screaming at himself for being such a weak person. Sehun had been telling him all morning how excited he was that they were working together for the upcoming club rush. The child was just too precious for him to handle.

Sehun turned over his shoulder, brows furrowed in concern when he noticed that Kyungsoo now had his back against the carpet. He set his paint brush down, then crawled over to the older boy before his face poked into Kyungsoo's line of vision.

"Hey, Kyungsoo, are you okay?"

The senior blinked once, twice, before his eyes connected into Sehun's own and he nodded. "Yeah, I'm great."

"Then why are you laying on the ground?"

"I..." his voice faltered, "...I'm just kind of tired."

"Really?" Sehun asked, this time sounding much more worried. He poked the center of Kyungsoo’s chest with a finger. "Do you need to go back to your room?"

"No, no. I'm fine," Kyungsoo answered with a casual wave of his hand, "just give me a minute."

The younger boy hesitated before quietly mumbling out, "Okay...” Right as he resumed back to his work, he turned his head to add, “But let me know if you need to go to the nurse’s office.”

Kyungsoo nodded, “Thanks, Sehun."

The younger hummed back.

Just then, Jongin strolled into the classroom with his hands shoved in his pockets. The boy paused at the sight of Kyungsoo on the floor and Sehun peeking over at him every now and then, eyeing Kyungsoo first, then at the other junior before asking slowly, "...Did I miss something?"

"Kyungsoo says he's feeling sick," declared Sehun as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Tired. I said tired," the senior said with his eyes closed.

"Kyungsoo says he's tired," the student clarified.

"Then do you need to go back to the dorm?" Jongin asked as he crouched over Kyungsoo's limp body with a grin, "or do you want to just lay here for the rest of the period while we finish?"

Eventually Kyungsoo cracked his eyes open, eyes squinting at the bright lights glaring back down at him before he met with Jongin's own curious gaze. Somehow, the sight of Jongin staring back at him was much more different than what he felt with Sehun. Looking at Sehun was like looking at a small child, yet when it came to Jongin, he couldn't help but feel his heart speeding up, could feel the lump on his throat expanding until he found it hard to breathe.

He could really get lost in those eyes, could get completely mesmerized at the light forming a small halo around the back of the junior’s head. Those heartwarming lips stretched into a playful smile were also not helping with his situation at all.

"Hellooooo..." Jongin said, his voice growing louder as he waved a hand over Kyungsoo's unblinking face. "Earth to Kyungsoo."

"Oh, I, uh—" Kyungsoo immediately sat up. His face was feeling hot all of a sudden, and it continued to burn as Jongin let out an amused snicker.

"Wow, you must really be tired,” the junior continued to laugh. “You didn't even answer my question."

"I... I'll just stay here," stammered the boy on the ground, and he quickly crawled over to sit beside Sehun who had just finished adding the last details of their poster.

The junior sat back with a satisfied smile on his face and he later turned to Kyungsoo, "What do you think?"

"Hm?" Kyungsoo replied, then nodded, eyes still trained towards the carpet, "yeah, it looks great."

"But you didn't even look at it." Sehun whined.

"Yes, I did," the older student replied, and he took one glance at the banner lying in front of him—more specifically, at the ugly paint that was now smearing in with his bold yellow letters, then at the random blob that Yifan  _had_  to add in again for some unknown reason. The things they drew made absolutely no sense to him, adding no context to the club whatsoever, but by now it was already too late. People were already starting to set up their stands around the campus, carrying out boxes of decorations and banners so they could hang around before the afternoon's event.

Sehun nudged him with his elbow, then repeated in a much quieter yet hopeful tone, "So... what do you think?"

Kyungsoo was trying hard not to choke on his own spit again like he did the other day, but he can feel it coming in the back of his throat and,  _dear god_ , it was a lot worse than he had imagined it to be. Beside him, Sehun was waiting for his response with an eager smile.

Just as he was about to answer, Jongin leaned over the two of them with his hands tucked in his pockets. He gave a quick onceover at the large paper laying on the ground, then with a snort, he muttered, "Yeah, this looks like shit."

"No it does not," Sehun objected, lifting his head up to scowl at the older boy. "Go away, Jongin. You barely helped."

"What? You wanted an honest opinion and I gave it to you," Jongin snickered as he crouched down between the two to get a better look. "But seriously..." the junior frowned, "I really don't think this should be hanging outside. It looks terrible. Go call Baekhyun and see if he still has that poster from the other day.”

Upon hearing Baekhyun’s name, the scowl on the junior’s face deepened.

”What?” Jongin asked after reading his expression.

"...Since you're gonna act that way, I might as well do this." Within seconds, Sehun had already grabbed one of the paint brushes on the floor, dipped it in a pile of black paint and leaned over to where their names were printed on the very corner of the poster. One quick swipe and Jongin's name was completely blacked out by Sehun's paint stroke, leaving an ugly gap between Sehun and Kyungsoo's name. "There. You're no longer part of the Dream Team. It's now only me and Kyungsoo. And Yifan."

"Ouch..." Jongin gave a playful flinch, a hand pressed against the left side of his chest in mock hurt, "That was painful."

"That's what you get though," Sehun huffed as he began fanning the fresh paint, but Jongin didn't seem at all upset. He was still laughing, and Kyungsoo was awkwardly caught in the middle as the two shouted and teased one another, coughing into his fist as Sehun continued to glare at the other junior.

"You're such a baby, Sehun," Jongin chuckled as he stretched an arm over to pinch his cheek.

"I am not," the younger boy objected, slamming his brush down on the carpet before turning to face Jongin, "and you may be laughing now, but just wait until my mom sends me my Nerf gun next week so I can kill you in Assassins." 

"Well in that case, I should start preparing mine now," Jongin gave a  grin, the light in his eyes flickering with excitement, "I haven't used it in quite a while, but I think my aim's still pretty good—"

"Nonononono!" Joonmyun cried out, frantically waving his arms in front of the three before finishing off with a final "NO". He continued on after taking a huge breath, “We're not using weapons this time!”

"What?" Sehun's eyes had widened, and the room erupted in a chorus of groans and whines, "How come?"

"What the hell..." The smile on Jongin's face had instantly dropped to a disappointed scowl.

"Oh,  _no_. Don't give me that look. This is all on you," the club leader pointed at the junior, "and don't pretend like you don't know, Jongin. You and I both know you're one of the main reasons behind this."

"Huh..." the junior scratched the back of his head as he thought for a moment, "Maybe I do remember."

Somehow, Zitao had managed to crawl his way over to the three students sitting on the floor, and he poked his head in between Jongin and Sehun so he could rest his chin on the latter's shoulder, "So what did Jongin do?"

Jongin was still smiling awkwardly, rubbing the side of his neck as he recalled the memory. "Back then I had Chanyeol as my target, but when I tried to fire at him—"

Sehun was quick to intervene. "It ended up hitting Mr. Andrews in the eye and it got infected.”

Zitao gave a low hiss as the rest of the classroom groaned under their breaths.

The younger boy nodded glumly, “He had to go to the hospital for quite some time..."

”Hey, I did apologize,” Jongin added in, staring at the floor with a slight look of guilt, “the entire club came to the emergency room to deliver flowers that we bought—”

”But then Mr. Andrews got an allergic reaction from it and broke out into hives. He had to stay in the hospital for even longer."

”Obviously if I knew he was allergic to daisies, I wouldn't have brought them," Jongin snapped back.

"...Hence why we're no longer allowed to use them in our game." Joonmyun continued, looking around the entire classroom to get his point across, "You guys will do perfectly fine without them. A simple post-it note stuck on the target's back with your name written on it will do the trick, as long as they still have it when they make it back to this classroom. Think about it more as a stealth challenge. Instead of getting your person from afar, this time you have to get up close and personal, so it'll definitely be a lot harder for you to kill the target you have."

The roomful of students responded in low, disappointed mumbles, but Joonmyun was quick to change that around by telling people to start sending things out to the main campus. They only had about an hour left, he announced, so they needed to get everything done as soon as possible before the event started.

With that being said, he walked over to Sehun and Kyungsoo with his hands on his hips, "Have you guys finished yet?"

"Yes!" Sehun cheerfully sang out, and he immediately shot up to his feet before proudly holding up the poster they'd been working on, "Ta dah."

"Oh, er..." the club president paused as he stared down at their work, at a complete loss of words, before he inhaled and nodded, his voice the same high-pitched squeal like it had been a few days ago. " _Great!_ Let's bring it out right away!"

With a grin, Sehun managed to pick Jongin back up on his feet, and the two juniors quickly grabbed their things and headed out of the room.

"Joonmyun..." Kyungsoo murmured as he slowly got up from the carpet and dusted the back of his pants.

"Hm?" The older boy responded, "Oh, did you need something, Kyungsoo?"

Kyungsoo shook his head, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I know it looks terrible and I really did try my best, but Sehun has a rather... active imagination, and I couldn't really push him into the right direction."

"It's fine. No need to worry," the older boy responded with a faint smile, and he ushered Kyungsoo to collect more supplies. The latter quietly grabbed half-empty paint bottles and dirty plastic bowls, chucking them into various boxes as students stepped out of the room little by little.

Joonmyun was a total pushover, that was for sure. Kyungsoo could still feel a wave of guilt washing over him as he shuffled out to the main campus area, and the feeling never went away even after he caught up with the two juniors. It was obvious to him that forming this type of club meant a great deal to Joonmyun, especially when he mentioned about all the school board members showing up. And with this situation also came the problem involving Jongdae, and Kyungsoo quietly wondered how the club leader was able to maintain such a happy, composed image when he had so many other things going on around him.

His wandering thoughts were set aside after watching Sehun grab a roll of duct tape in an attempt to hang the wrinkled banner on the tent they were using for the day. The junior jumped as high as he could, slapping the duct tape against the metal pole with a loud clang.

"No, it doesn't look right. You're going to have to redo it," Jongin stated after taking a step back to take a quick look at their work. "The entire thing is slanted."

"Is it really?"

Jongin's nose crinkled, "Yeah, it's pretty bad."

"Fine," Sehun sighed before grabbing the corner of the poster and pulling it down. "Hoist me up."

Jongin eventually did, after minutes of fumbling with Sehun's waist before he was finally able to lift him up from the ground. The younger boy was struggling to keep himself upright as the two students swayed back and forth.

He teetered in the air, arms flailing wildly in order to gain his balance before he shouted loudly. "To the right, Jongin! You're going the wrong way!"

"I  _am_  going right!" The older boy snapped with his cheek pressed against Sehun's lower abdomen.

"Nevermind, I take that back. I meant left!"

Letting out an annoyed grunt, Jongin managed to stumble to the right direction, teeth gritted as he shuffled his way over to the other side of the tent.

"You know you could've just gotten a chair." Chanyeol called out, though the two didn't really seem to pay attention to his advice.

"Aaaaaand stopstopstop! Okay, give me a second." With a quick slap against the tent, Sehun soon dropped back down to the ground while Jongin caught his breath. The latter shuffled backwards to take a better look and, almost instantly, his flushed face dropped at the sight before him.

"Are you kidding me?" Jongin gave a frustrated cry, "It's even worse than it was before!"

"It wasn't even my fault!" Sehun shouted back angrily, "You wouldn't keep still— Okay, you know what? Nevermind. Just carry me and I'll fix it again."

Jongin quickly backed away, "Nope, not doing that. You're way too heavy."

"Fine, just..." Sehun looked around thoughtfully for a moment before his eyes landed on one person in particular. "Carry Kyungsoo instead."

Two pairs of eyes immediately turned to the shortest of the group, and Kyungsoo could feel his hands clenching on the handles of the box he'd been holding the entire time. His face instantly paled, "What?"

"Kyungsoo, get over here," Sehun waved him over. "Jongin's going to pick you up."

"What?" Kyungsoo repeated, and he quickly took a step back before his eyes flickered over to Jongin. The junior began stretching his arms. "N-no, I don't think that's a very good idea..."

"Guys," Chanyeol frowned, holding up a metal folding chair from behind the table, "I have one here if you need it."

"C'mon, it'll be fine," Jongin grinned. "You probably weigh less than Sehun anyways."

"I still don't think it's a very good idea—" Sehun was already tugging the box out of his hands, and he soon dropped it on the ground before handing him the large banner. The paper fluttered from the afternoon breeze, the corners curling against Kyungsoo's body as Sehun pushed him closer to Jongin.

He wasn't exactly sure if it was the wind making the banner shake and tremble, or if it was his own nervous body reacting to Jongin's touch, but the latter now had both of his palms pressed flat against his sides, and it took every ounce of him not to scream when he felt Jongin's chest pressed up against his back.

”Alright...” The younger mumbled to himself, his tongue poked out in concentration before he asked, “You ready?”

Kyungsoo shook his head.

"You'll be fine," the younger laughed.

For a moment, Kyungsoo could feel the blood rushing up to his head once Jongin had his fingers digging against his sides. The latter started to count down from three. His hands were clenched against the paper, and he may or may not have let out a tiny little scream when Jongin finally hoisted him into the air.

With clammy fingers, he grabbed the corner of the posters and pressed it hard against the metal pole. There was no coordination, no exact measurement of where he was supposed to stick it against. Hell, even his eyes were squinted shut when he stuck it on the tent. He didn't care at this point. All he wanted to do was to get back down and not have Jongin all up on him.

The air rushed back to his lungs when he felt his feet planted firmly against the solid ground. Within seconds, the hands that were pressed against his sides had disappeared, and Kyungsoo released the shaky breath he'd been holding the entire time. He pressed a hand against his cheek, felt the warmth radiating against his palm before he dropped his arm back down on his side. Nope, this was clearly something he was never planning on doing ever again. He couldn’t even look at Jongin directly in the eye without his face heating up.

Sehun had a finger tapping against his chin, his face completely expressionless as his gaze swept over the wrinkled, dirty banner fluttering above their heads. The seconds ticked by slowly before he finally sighed in defeat, then walked closer to the tent so he could pull the poster back to the ground. "Just grab the stupid chair."

 

 

\---

 

 

Kyungsoo didn't really expect time to go by so quickly, but by now all the students were finally gathering their things and packing away the borrowed tent so they could put it back in the storage room. The chaos that had occurred a few hours ago was something he still couldn't get over, especially seeing the nervous freshmen and sophomores as they roamed around the campus looking for clubs that piqued their interest. The school board members did show up at some point too, and he could still vivldly remember Joonmyun's failed explanation as to why their poster had been designed the way it was (Sehun had to step in to help eventually).

The poor thing, Kyungsoo thought to himself as he filled his box up with the remaining flyers that had been scattered on the table from earlier. But nonetheless, he honestly thought that the club had been successful at promoting itself to the rest of the school. Even Baekhyun, who had been upset about Joonmyun's decision for the past few days, appeared to be in better mood throughout the entire club rush, dragging terrified-looking students over to their tent.

By now, almost all of the students were already heading back to the dining hall for dinner, leaving behind a few stragglers as they hurried to pack everything away.

"Great job, everyone!" Joonmyun beamed, helping one club member fold the table so they could put it back in the classroom. "We did absolutely amazing today. Even better than I thought."

"And did you see how many people we got?" Chanyeol grinned as he held out the clipboard. The list of names that had eagerly signed up for the club stretched down to the very bottom of the paper as well as the back.

"Hopefully the school will see how many people are willing to join our club, and maybe we'll have enough funding to go on more trips together," the club leader was positively glowing at this point, and he happily asked everyone to carry their belongings back to the classroom before they came back to eat dinner.

"Kyungsoo, do you mind carrying these for me?" Joonmyun asked with a smile. He placed two large boxes down on the ground along with a few other items on the side.

The younger boy nodded, "Just let me finish putting away some other things first."

"Awesome," replied Joonmyun, but then he bit on his lower lip, peering over his shoulder before leaning in to Kyungsoo and asking quietly, "and have you seen Jongdae, by any chance?"

"Jongdae?" Kyungsoo repeated before shaking his head no, "I haven't seen him since this morning. Maybe you can ask Baekhyun? He might know."

"Oh... okay then," the older boy responded with a strained smile, "He's probably back in the dorm or something. I'll go back to the classroom first though... but thanks for everything, Kyungsoo."

 

 

\---

 

 

A smart person probably would've made two rounds with the amount of stuff he'd been told to bring back, but Kyungsoo wasn't in the mood to walk back and forth from the campus to the classroom. Somehow, Kyungsoo had managed to carry everything that was left at their stand before heading back, slightly stumbling on his own two feet and almost tripping on a small juncture poking out from the concrete. It was probably due to the fact that he couldn't even see anything in front of him besides the warning labels printed on the cardboard box, but Kyungsoo was stubborn, and the only end goal in sight was to put everything away so he could join Baekhyun and Chanyeol for dinner; but at this rate, Kyungsoo was nowhere near where he wanted to be. 

A small box at the very top of the stack had toppled to the ground, hitting against the edge of his shoe before it rolled a few feet away. Kyungsoo let out a heavy sigh before dropping everything back down and walking over to grab it... right as a sharp gust of wind picked several colorful flyers up into the air and scattered them across the campus.

"Need a hand?" Someone called out. Kyungsoo lifted his head up, only to quickly look back down when he realized it was Jongin walking closer to him.

"No, I'm fine," Kyungsoo quickly replied.

"You sure?" the younger asked once more, his hands shoved in his pockets as he watched from afar. "It looks like you have a lot to carry."

"It's okay," he answered back, and he turned his head away from the younger boy to hide the obvious blush that was blooming across his face. Just as those words left his mouth, another blast of air sent one of the larger boxes from his stack toppling down and crashing to the floor in a massive pile of bright streamers and posters. Colorful orbs rolled off to the distance, and the two students silently stared down at the mess before Kyungsoo looked back up with a helpless sigh, "...I take that back. I'm not fine."

With a quiet laugh, Jongin shook his head and walked over to him, "Here, I'll help."

The two rushed to pick up the fallen items off the concrete before it could roll away any further, throwing it back into each individual container before Jongin stacked all of them on top of each other and picked them up with ease, leaving Kyungsoo to hold only one box for himself.

"I can hold some more if they're too heavy for you," Kyungsoo offered quietly as he tried to keep up with the junior.

"I'm good." Jongin continued walking forward with a smile.

The two students walked mostly in silence—hopefully silence, Kyungsoo thought to himself. Because his heart was beating way too loud that Jongin may or may not hear it from where he was standing. This was the first time the two of them were together.  _Alone_. Kyungsoo bit on his lower lip and found himself staring at Jongin's back for the majority of the time. 

The silence soon broke after Jongin stopped walking, and the younger spun around just in time as Kyungsoo shifted his eyes from where he'd been staring the entire time. He slowly taking a few steps backwards, "Hey, Kyungsoo..."

"Yeah?" Kyungsoo asked, though it was hard to do so when it felt like there was something growing in the back of his throat.

The younger boy hesitated for a moment but then continued anyways, "This whole thing between Sehun and Baek... I'm really sorry about that. You and I both know your banner was way better than ours, but Joonmyun obviously picked Sehun's because he didn't have the heart to tell him no... So yeah, I don't know." He gave a light shrug, "I just wanted to apologize."

Kyungsoo was completely taken aback at first, especially now that he was seeing Jongin staring bashfully at the ground for the very first time. But somehow he was able to answer back, "You don't need to be sorry."

Jongin had lifted his head up in surprise. He stood still until Kyungsoo was able to catch up to him.

The older boy shrugged his shoulders and continued walking until the two were finally beside each other. "It didn't really matter to me anyways. They were both just being dumb."

The younger boy snorted in amusement. "You're right. They are... But I didn't want Sehun to leave a bad impression on you, especially with the way he acted earlier. He's an asshole sometimes."

"No, I don't think he's like that," Kyungsoo shook his head, "I really do like him. I like all of you guys."

"Including me?" Jongin asked with a teasing grin, but before Kyungsoo could begin spluttering out a reply, the smile on his face had instantly dropped.

"Wait, hold on. Do you..." Jongin's eyes narrowed as he stooped down to place the boxes on the ground, "Do you see that?"

"See what?"

" _That_ ," Jongin said, and Kyungsoo merely stared back at him because that was clearly no help. Rolling his eyes, the younger pointed his finger again, "Over where the football field is."

Spinning around, Kyungsoo squinted his eyes to look at where Jongin was pointing at. He gave a quick onceover at the trees planted across the field, then at the group of boys that were running across the grass and sitting along the bleachers. It didn't help with the fact that he was practically blind as a bat, and he didn't have his glasses anywhere near him at the moment. Instead, Kyungsoo slowly nodded his head, "Uh huh, yep. I see it all right."

"...You don't see anything, do you?" The junior snickered.

"...No, I really don't," Kyungsoo admitted with a blush.

Jongin was walking closer to him, both of his hands now placed on either side of his shoulders before he leaned in towards the shorter boy. Kyungsoo's body was heating up again, going completely off on its own accord—especially now that Jongin's mouth was practically inches away from his ear as he was pressing in. He really wanted to pull away from the younger boy's grasp, but Jongin already had him locked in his hold, and he stretched an arm out towards the field, circling his finger towards an area where there were mostly trees clustered together. "It's right over there."

Kyungsoo was trying really hard to focus. He stared long and hard, paying attention towards the same exact space where Jongin had pointed to seconds earlier, but instead found nothing out of the ordinary. His brows furrowed as he observed the field, eyes glaring towards the open football field as he searched and searched and searched.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Maybe Kyungsoo was going crazy... or perhaps Jongin was the insane one in this situation.

The seconds ticked by as Kyungsoo blinked with the younger observing him quietly.

"Do you see it?" Jongin asked for a second time.

"Nope," Kyungsoo blurted out, and he fought down the blush that had already crept up the back of his neck after hearing the younger boy snickering from behind. "Sorry, my eyesight's pretty bad..."

"No, you're fine," Jongin chuckled as he bent down to pick up the boxes he had placed on the ground. "Just forget it. We should bring these back to the room before Joonmyun starts asking where we are.

Kyungsoo silently followed behind the junior as they made their way closer towards their classroom. A few students had already started walking out, but for the most part, it looked as though the majority of the members were still hanging out inside.

"There you are," Joonmyun called out once the two opened the door and stepped inside. "What took you so long?"

"Just wanted to show Kyungsoo something," the youngest of the two said out loud. He shook the boxes that were in his hands, "Where do I put these?"

Joonmyun had eyed him skeptically for a moment, then pointed towards the corner of the room, "Just put those there."

"Got it."

"And Kyungsoo..." The club president walked over to one of the cupboards near the front of the classroom and pushed it open, "Your stuff goes right here."

With a quiet nod, the boy hobbled over to where the cabinets were, standing on the tip of his toes as he lifted the box up over his head so he could reach the highest shelf. For a moment, he thought everything was perfectly normal... until he heard the collective gasp that echoed throughout the entire room, followed by a long pause of silence. After gently placing the boxes and closing the cabinet door shut, Kyungsoo turned his head towards the rest of the class, noticing how practically everyone within the club was staring at him, eyes wide and jaws slacked open.

His eyes flickered back and forth from each and every student before he asked slowly, "...What?"

Baekhyun, who had been chatting happily to Yixing and Zitao a few seconds earlier, now had his mouth hanging far to the ground. He let out a quiet, shaky breath, "Oh, no. Kyungsoo..."

At the very back of the room, another student was clicking his tongue, then shook his head with a look of sheer disappointment, "Gone too soon, my friend."

"A moment of silence for the fallen," Yixing murmured quietly, and he took off his newspaper boy hat and pressed it against his chest. A few others followed as well.

"I-I don't..." Kyungsoo swallowed the lump that was already beginning to form in the back of his throat. He looked around the room nervously, "I don't know what's going on..."

"I'll go lower the flag," one student whispered before heading out of the room. A few students followed behind as they casted meaningful stares towards Kyungsoo.

"A flag at half-mast is still too damn high!" Yixing cried out with a clenched fist and he ended up tossing his newspaper boy hat to the ground, stomping on it with his foot with all of his might.

Kyungsoo was lost, absolutely so. And as more and more people started to look at him with sad, despondent gazes, his face paled when it finally clicked inside his brain. The memories of Jongin breathing against the back of his neck left goosebumps rising on his skin, and he spun around to face said-student, who was now sitting at one of the empty tables in the room.

_J_ _ongin_. Jongin was his assassin. He had been Jongin's target all along. Jongin intentionally left the both of them alone so he could kill him right then and there. That was why he made Kyungsoo look out towards the field—that was why he suddenly put his hands on his shoulders. The whole thing was a trap to make him distracted so he could go in for the kill. He closed his eyes and groaned, wanting to crawl into one of the empty cardboard boxes and hide there for the rest of his life. How could he be so stupid? 

There was a proud grin on the younger's face, his tongue playfully sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he watched Kyungsoo's face morph from confusion, to uncertainty, then finally to understanding. The senior quickly reached a hand behind his back, feeling and searching for anything in particular until he felt something between his fingers.

It was just like the rules that Joonmyun stated at the very beginning. The assassin will place a sticky-note on their target's back with their name and lead him back to the classroom. The target is then officially announced dead. He stared at the messy handwriting written on the blue piece of paper, then at the small tiny happy face drawn at the very corner.

_Jongin has successfully eliminated target: Kyungsoo_

Within that time span, Joonmyun had disappeared towards the back where most of the boxes were left standing, shoving random containers and packages out of the way until he finally returned to the front with a large board covered with photographs. And as Kyungsoo got a better look, he noticed they were all photos of the club members' faces, including his own. At the fourth row, fifth column—right in between other students that had yet to be killed off.

With a quiet sigh, Joonmyun grabbed a red marker from one the desk drawers.

"Gentlemen..." Joonmyun cleared his throat and almost at once everyone turned their heads to look at him, "Our first victim of the year."


	7. Square One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took a lot longer than i expected ;A; but i'm so thankful for those of you who waited.

Kyungsoo felt so  _stupid._ Of course this had been Jongin's plan all along; finding him when he was alone had all been nothing but a strategic move to get him out of the game. It was smart, yes, and Kyungsoo had been a complete and utter fool for falling right into his trap.

His lukewarm dinner was sitting right in front of him, but he quickly pushed it aside and opted for resting his head against the table. He didn't have much of an appetite for anything now. There were too many students whispering around him. Too many of them staring at him until he could feel them burning holes straight through his back. He knew of this even with his head buried between his folded arms. 

He was still reliving the initial shock of realizing what had happened earlier that evening, and it didn't help that word had spread around about his death in the Assassins game – and being the first one out at that. Who knew it was going to be such a big deal, but within the next half-hour, Kyungsoo discovered that it was, in fact, a very big deal... Enough to have Zitao scrambling to grab a notebook so he could jot down notes for the next newspaper headline and for Yixing to grab his camera and start snapping pictures of him. 

" _This is your first time playing the game_ ," Joonmyun had tried to comfort Kyungsoo a few minutes earlier, though it didn't really help to soften the blow against his already-bruised pride. " _Don't feel bad that you're the first one dead. This happens to everybody starting out."_

" _Well, I disagree. You should feel bad_ ," interrupted another fellow club member, completely contradicting Joonmyun’s words. He, along with a few other students in the room, proceeded to chant out a well-rehearsed chorus of " _Shame_ ,  _shame, shame_ " until Chanyeol had managed to shove everyone away with his big, lanky body of his and helped him escape.

Baekhyun had managed to throw out a loud “Oh, grow up. Will you?” before trailing behind the other two. Kyungsoo was somewhat glad to have him around to help out, but even after looking at his face, he could already tell that his roommate was also at a loss of words.

A few of his classmates had thrown sympathetic glances over at his direction, which only made him feel more embarrassed at the fact that he lost... over something so utterly stupid. Kyungsoo groaned, burying his head deeper into his folded arms while the rest of the dining hall chattered away. He just wanted to curl his fingers through his hair and rip out all the strands, or crawl underneath the table and hide until everybody left. Maybe both if he had the time. Though he didn't even have the motivation to get out of his seat at the moment.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better... at least you didn't beat Chanyeol's record. The doofus got killed the minute we started the game." Baekhyun had a hand on Kyungsoo's shoulder, rubbing soothing circles against his back with a comforting smile. "We wouldn't stop making fun of him for weeks."

"And I get still made fun of for that to this day," Chanyeol added with a sniff, though he didn't look at all fazed by it.

"Plus, you had Jongin," Baekhyun murmured quietly. "He's really good at this game. Really,  _really_  good, actually... I think he's won in Assassins for the past two years in a row..?"

"Three years," Chanyeol corrected the older boy.

"Ah, you're right. Three years," Baekhyun clarified. "So yeah, if Jongin had you during the game, you might as well kiss your first place title goodbye. Actually..." He glanced over his shoulders, then turned to Kyungsoo when he discovered that no one was paying attention to them, asking in a hushed whisper, "You didn't have me, did you?"

"No," Kyungsoo murmured as he lifted his head to pick at his untouched food with a fork. "And I didn't get the chance to tell Jongin who I had either."

"Good," the older boy sighed in relief. "Well, not good for you, but..." He gave a sheepish smile, "You get what I mean."

Kyungsoo gave a lopsided grin, remaining silent within the next few minutes. He sat there in silence for a second, then lifted his head up after hearing a familiar voice laughing from behind him. Sitting a few rows down from where he was at, Jongin had scooped a handful of peas onto his spoon and used it as some sort of catapult to launch it directly into Sehun's face. The bits of green vegetables flung into the younger boy's eyes, and Sehun yelled back at Jongin before brushing the rest that were caught between his uniform, only to shout even more when a few plopped into his bowl of soup.

From across the hall, Yifan had stalked over to the two bickering juniors without either of them noticing, and he gave a light smack against both the back of their heads before heading back to his original spot. There was a permanent scowl etched across Sehun's face the moment their junior D.A. walked away, turning back to glare at Jongin. The latter only responded back with a sheepish grin, rubbing the spot behind his head in embarrassment.

There was something in his smile that had Kyungsoo frozen in his spot, his eyes refusing to look away at the younger boy as he held back a laugh and continued to poke at Sehun's bitter frown. He then suddenly thought back to when they'd been walking together... when Jongin had playfully asked " _Including me?_ " after Kyungsoo had stated he liked all of the people at his new school. What would've been his answer at that time?  _Especially you_? Or perhaps...  _yes_ ,  _but I like you a little more than what you're thinking_. He didn't really know what to think of all this... and if Jongin genuinely thought of him as a friend, for that matter. All he knew was that Jongin had motives behind his actions, and that Kyungsoo had fallen for him so easily.

But still, the thought of having Jongin so close to him, being so friendly and so nice, was enough to have him blushing right at the table, and he quickly bent his head down before shoving down bits and pieces of his dinner roll into his mouth, chewing away thoughts of Jongin holding onto his shoulders and leaning in close where he could feel his breath against the side of his neck.

 

 

\---

 

 

"This is all your fault," Sehun mumbled under his breath as he picked up all the floating bits and pieces of peas that were left in his bowl of soup. He scowled at the boy sitting next to him before grabbing an empty plate. The back of his head was no longer hurting like it had been a few seconds prior, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t embarrassed by what had just happened.

The sour look on his face deepened when he noticed several other students giggling behind their plates, but Jongin didn't seem to be affected by it as much as he was. He always had been more sensitive to what everybody else thought of him compared to Jongin.

"Why am I always getting in trouble because of you?" Sehun asked out loud – though it was directed more to himself than to his best friend. "I think this whole killing-Kyungsoo situation's gotten into your head and made you all arrogant."

"What are you even talking about?" Jongin guffawed.

Sehun ignored the other boy as he mumbled to himself, "If my parents get another call from the Superintendent, they're probably going to pull me out of the school for good..."

"Hey,  _hey_. Relax, Sehun," the older boy responded with a laugh, "I was only joking around. No need to get so worked up..."

Sehun stared down at his food, looking as if his heart had been broken into a million pieces, before he mumbled out, "...You know I hate peas."

"Yes, I do know that." Jongin reached over and placed a gentle hand on Sehun's shoulder. "And I'm deeply sorry."

The younger boy frowned as he scooped up another vile piece of vegetable and dumped it on his plate, "You don't sound like it."

"Well, I am," said Jongin, not an ounce of empathy whatsoever.

There was no point in delving any further. Sehun simply shot a glare over at his best friend before finishing the rest of his food, careful to avoid the little green abominations floating in his bowl. It still tasted awful, but he didn't say anything; and just as Sehun was about to reach over to help himself with another serving, he felt a strong tap on his shoulder and turned his head to find one of his classmates grinning down at him.

"Hey, Sehun.” A classmate by the name of Moonbin pointed his thumb towards the door, "Mr. Lee's looking for you."

"What?" Sehun frowned, "Why?"

The other boy shrugged, then grabbed the empty seat right next to him and reached for an empty plate, "Who knows, but you better hurry up. He's still waiting in his room."

Sehun's face instantly paled at that, the spoon he'd been holding splattering back inside his bowl. His stomach was already starting to churn, but after Jongin gave him a solid nudge on the shoulder and told him to go, he stood up with shaky legs and headed out of the dining hall.

He obviously had no idea why his Mandarin teacher was calling him out in the first place. It wasn't like he was doing awful, but then again he didn't really consider himself to be the best in the class. His heart was beating unusually fast as he made his way over to the language department, his hands clammy as he wiped the sweat against his trousers, and with his already-vivid imagination, he couldn't help but think of the possibilities as to why Mr. Lee was even calling him in the first place.

The building at this hour was empty, and he wasn't sure whether it was his footsteps or his heart beating loudly. He didn't have much time to think though, because he was already up the stairs and facing the door of the classroom, noticing the soft silhouette of the man he'd been talking to earlier that day.

Sehun gave a quick knock, then wordlessly stepped into the classroom after Mr. Lee looked up from his papers. "Hi, uh..." He could already feel himself starting to sweat through his shirt... but hopefully his teacher didn't notice how terrified (and wet) he looked at the moment, "Moonbin told me that you wanted to see me?"

"Ah, yes. I've been meaning to talk to you about something important." He gestured over to one of the empty desks at the front, "Have a seat so I can go over it with you."

"Okay..." The pressure was already getting to heavy for him, so even before he could even stop himself, he ended up blurting out, "I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"Trouble?" The old man repeated, then let out an amused laugh, "No, no. You're completely fine. In fact, the reason why I asked for you to come here in the first place was because I wanted to ask a favor from you." He rested his elbows on the desk, hands clasped together before he asked, "I was wondering if you'd be willing to earn some extra credit."

The anxiety rolling in the pit of Sehun's stomach had settled somewhat, and he could feel his shoulders relaxing the moment he heard the man's question.

"What? Really?" Sehun's eyes had widened at the offer. He quickly nodded his head, "Yeah, of course. I mean, who doesn't want extra credit? But... what do I have to do exactly?"

"It's pretty simple. We're having a couple of international students that are flying all the way from China and coming here. All of them are trying to improve on their English-speaking skills, so what better way to get a feel for the language than to go to an English-speaking school?"

With his fingers tapping against the surface of the desk, Sehun nodded slowly,  "So you want me to be like a host or..?"

"Yes, precisely. We'll have one of the students enrolled here at this school for the year, and it's your job to help them around and show them the life of an everyday student here at St. Peter's. The student will pretty much shadow you for the rest of the year, so all I'm asking is for you to show him around the school, help him make new friends, and talk to him about the clubs and sports events that goes around on the campus... How does that sound to you?"

There really wasn't much to say about it, so Sehun responded with a casual shrug of his shoulders, his right knee bouncing nervously, "It's fine, I guess... I don't really mind having a student shadowing me around for the year..." He scratched the side of his face in thought, "but shouldn't you be asking Yixing to help him around? Or Zitao? They're both Chinese and they'd probably help him a lot more by translating for him. I don't see why I'm the best option."

"Well... yes, we did ask them beforehand. Zitao has done it before, but now that he's currently the new head of the newspaper club, he's been terribly busy with that. As for Yixing..." The man let out a long sigh and rubbed his temples, as if he was reliving a really bad memory. "We did have him try it out last year too, but there was a time where he took his international student out to Rosemore and accidentally left him there..."

"Oh." Sehun deadpanned, thinking back to the Chinese student.

That  _definitely_  sounded like a very Yixing thing to do. In fact, now that he thought about it, he did faintly remember the school going on a frantic search for an international student that had been lost for a good few hours. They'd been searching high and low for a boy by the name of Linong, and eventually found him sitting hopelessly confused and lost at one of the bus stops about two or three towns over, with a homeless man trying to swindle him for some of his pocket money. Apparently Linong had been so terrified by that experience that he spent the remainder of his year locked up in his own room, refusing to get out unless he had to attend class or go to the dining hall for lunch and dinner. A few days before he was supposed to leave back to China, everything in his room had disappeared, as if there was never an international student there in the first place. Sehun quietly wondered what the boy was up to nowadays...

And whether Yixing got in trouble from it, he didn't know for sure, but judging by the way the senior would freely roam around the school with a bright smile on his face as he cradled his Canon in his arms, it looked as if he wasn't too hurt by it.

"Which is why we're coming to you," Mr. Lee continued, shuddering at the memory. "We don't want our student to constantly rely on another Chinese classmate to help translate for him while he's going to school. The whole point of this is to study and practice English afterall... Plus, it'll look great on your college applications... Shows that you have great sportsmanship and leadership skills and whatnot. And if you don't think you're up for it, then we'll just have to find somebody else that can host the student for the rest of the year." He tapped both hands on the top of his desk, offering an encouraging smile, "Well, what do you say?"

Sehun bit on his bottom lip for next several minutes as he thought it over. It did sound nice and all, but then again Sehun wasn't too keen on the idea of having to spend the majority of his time with the student. It felt more like babysitting a stranger for the year, and he'd probably be busy studying for his classes and helping out with Joonmyun's club. He was also in his junior year, which meant a lot more pressure to do well in school, especially now that his parents were starting to send him pamphlets and brochures from different universities. There were a lot of things on his plate at the moment, and seeing the hopeful look on Mr. Lee's face as he watched him intently, with eyes that were practically begging Sehun to say yes, made his stomach roll and churn like it never had before.

 

 

\---

 

 

"So when is he coming?"

Sehun gave an unknowing shrug as he sunk on one of the couches in the junior lounge, a file of papers stacked on top of his lap.

Now that dinner was over, they were back in the dorms and resting up... apart from Sehun. He was too busy freaking out at the moment to actually relax. "Mr. Lee said some time next week, but I'm not really sure. He's supposed to go over it with me tomorrow during class."

The majority of his dormmates were huddled around him as he opened through the manila envelope that his language teacher had given him earlier. There were only a few pieces of paper inside, with the student's introduction and basic information about him, pictures of his friends and family, and what his hobbies and interests were.

"His name is Luhan," Sehun read off of one of the papers, then flipped over to the next sheet to find several printed photos of the boy. There were pictures of him with his friends, a childhood photo with him and his parents, and a few others where he was sitting in one of his classes, at the park, and one where he went to the Disney Resort in Shanghai with his family. Some had captions underneath the photos (" _Me with my best friend, Jingzhou"_ and " _My mother, Yunyi, and my father, Lingfeng. I am five years old in the picture)._ And from what Sehun can see after scanning through all the pictures that were sent to him, the Luhan person did look pretty cute. His eyes were naturally large and inviting, having light-brown hair and a face that basically looked like he was an elementary school kid. 

"He seems pretty cool," Jongin murmured as he absentmindedly flipped through the papers, "and he also said he's into sports like soccer and stuff."

"He's cute too," Zitao said out loud, peering over Sehun's shoulder with a nod of approval. How he even got there in the first place, Sehun had no idea. He was far too interested in the photos of the boy he'd be spending the rest of the year with. But Zitao was right; Luhan  _was_  pretty attractive in his opinion, and it didn't take long for Sehun to have his heart thumping nervously.  _Fuck_ , he was so screwed.

As the group of juniors stood close together reading through the list of interests and photos, a taller figure silently walked past, quickly noticing the group of students that were all huddled up at the center of the lounge. With curiosity getting the best of him, the D.A. tip-toped over to see what they were looking at, peeking over the top of their heads before they finally noticed his presence. It wasn't hard to notice him either. His head was practically touching the ceiling, and his shadow pretty much casted over them until they could no longer read what was on the paper.

"You're being a creep again," one student turned around and eyed Yifan with a frown. "Why can't you just walk up to us like a normal D.A?"

The older man answered back with a indignant huff, taking a sip out of his coffee mug, then stared back down at the photos Sehun had been flipping through. "What're you all looking at anyways?"

"Luhan from China," Zitao answered for him. He held up a photo for Yifan to have a better look. "He's coming over here to follow Sehun around for the rest of the year."

"Hm..." the D.A squinted his eyes at the image of the foreign exchange student, but then he paused, brows furrowed together. "Wait, how come you didn't do it?"

"Because I'm president of the newspaper club  _and_  the junior president for ASB," the Chinese student turned to roll his eyes at Yifan, as if he’d expected the latter to know all of this information by now. "You know I can only handle so much. Besides, even if I did sign up, I'll pretty much use him as my own personal assistant. Things like faxing and copying my papers, fetching me coffee, do my laundry, and all that good stuff." For a moment, he fell silent, and then his eyes had widened when it finally dawned on him. "Wait..."

"No," Sehun snapped before the other boy could even add in another word. "Luhan's not coming here because you need a slave to pick up after you."

"It was worth a shot," shrugged Zitao. "But maybe I could borrow him sometime when you're busy."

Sehun only grunted in reply. He wasn't very much in the mood for talking. There were a lot of things left that he needed to read, but right now he was mainly interested in what Luhan looked like... and whether he looked the same as he did based on his childhood photos. He took a quick glance at another picture – one with the boy and the rest of the members in his soccer team. Standing at the farthest to the right was Luhan, smiling brightly towards the camera while holding up a peace sign. His smile looked genuine and happy, eyes squinted since the sun was facing towards them when they were taking the photo, and Sehun flipped over the card to read the caption that the exchange student had carefully written out.

_My soccer team at my school in China. They are all my friends! I want to make more friends at my new school too!_

A smile slowly crept up Sehun's face as he read it over and over. His heart was starting to race again, but he didn't know whether it was because he was feeling nervous or excited. Perhaps both. Whatever it was, he would just have to wait and see.

 

 

\---

 

 

There were a lot of things going through Joonmyun's mind at the moment, but only one in particular that had been occupying his head for the past several days...

To say that he was slightly nervous would be an understatement. For the past few years of Joonmyun attending this school, he'd been able to deal with the most stressful situations as a member of multiple clubs and student organizations, but this one specific task made the other disasters in his life feel like a breeze, and he could already feel his hands starting to clam up just thinking about it. His nervous habit of biting his nails was coming back again, and he wasn't even aware of this until he walked past his reflection and noticed his fingers in his mouth, already chewing down to the nub. He quickly dropped his hand back down to his side and continued walking.

A part of him truly wondered why he was so afraid about this whole mess. They were roommates afterall, and he needed to find some sort of middle ground with Jongdae. But it was hard to do so when they mixed together like oil and water.

The amount of confidence he had while walking out of the math building disappeared as quickly as he expected for it to be, because he was now nearing the senior dormitories, and his hands were practically dripping with sweat, and  _god_  why was this so much harder than it looked?

Fingers fumbling for his keys, he unlocked the door to their shared room, then let out a soft groan when he realized that the pile of rubbish that Jongdae left behind the door was still there, leaving barely a foot of space for him to squeeze through the small opening. He rubbed his stomach with a wince before closing the door shut, then turned his head to see Jongdae laying there with his eyes closed and his headphones plugged in, completely oblivious to the rest of the world around him.

Upon hearing the sound of the door opening, Jongdae had opened his eyes, taken a long look back at Joonmyun, before closing them again. Slowly, he reached over to his phone to turn up his music, and all Joonmyun could hear was the heavy metal playing out of Jongdae's headphones.

"Uh, Jongdae..." He swallowed the lump that had been growing in his throat for the past several minutes. "I think we should... talk." He waited several seconds or so before repeating in a quiet voice, "Jongdae?"

But his roommate was making no effort to listen. He continued fiddling with the volume and, after finding the right level, he folded his hands behind his head, propping his left leg over his thigh as he nodded along to the beat of the music. It was starting to piss Joonmyun off a little. He rolled his eyes before walking closer to the foot of Jongdae's bed.

" _Jongdae,_ " he repeated, a bit louder this time. He was already pissed off, even more so now that he knew his roommate wasn't doing anything to help. 

With his anger finally getting the best of him, Joonmyun stormed over to his desk and opened his drawer, digging through the contents inside before he found the pair of scissors tucked underneath his box of paper clips and erasers. For the first time in Joonmyun's life, he was going ahead with his actions rather than thinking it through. Normally he wouldn't come up with rash decisions like this, but  _fuck it_. Jongdae was being an ass, and he needed to do something about it. 

Eventually, Joonmyun drew closer to his roommate and, with a quick snip, the cable to Jongdae's earphones were cut off, and Jongdae's eyes cracked open when he realized there was no longer any music playing.

"What..." Jongdae took one long look at the pair of scissors in Joonmyun's hand, then back down at the snipped-off wires on his stomach. "...the  _fuck_."

"I only did it because you were ignoring me!" Joonmyun snapped, pointing the scissors directly at the younger boy's face like a thief keeping his victim hostage; only he was a really scared and inexperienced robber, and Jongdae could probably shove him off and run out the door without putting that much effort. The things he were doing looked neither intimidating nor threatening for that matter, but Joonmyun was in the  _zone_ , and Jongdae was finally paying attention to him for once. Now was his chance to actually say something before things go back to the way it was before. 

"I..." He stuttered, trying to find the right words to say. His face was already starting to redden, and he could feel his clammy hands losing its grip on the scissor.  _Fuck_ , why was he so bad at this? "I'm so sick and tired of all of this, Jongdae. Us constantly ignoring each other. Us pretending like neither one of us exist whenever we're in the same room. And..." Joonmyun pointed to the large pile of junk stashed next to the door, "The stupid door! I can't even get into the room because of your stuff! Clean up your mess or I'm going to toss everything out the window."

"No, you won't," Jongdae rolled his eyes.

Joonmyun paused, opening his mouth before closing it back again, "...Okay, you're right. I won't... but that doesn't mean I'm not sick and tired of it! I keep on trying to tell you this, but you just never  _listen_  to me."

For once, Jongdae had fallen silent. No snide comment like he would normally give out. No rolling of the eyes. He stared back at Joonmyun with a serious gaze, not saying anything more. But a few seconds later, the corner of his lip started to curl up, and Joonmyun could feel the bed shaking as the younger boy started to snicker under his breath, before bursting into a fit of laughter altogether.

Joonmyun blinked in confusion, then stared long and hard at his roommate before he finally lowered his arm down back to his side. "...Wait, why are you laughing at me? I'm trying to have a serious conversation here!"

"No, no, I know," Jongdae said as he tried to catch his breath. He was clutching onto his stomach now, the corner of his eyes welling up with tears as he sat up from his bed. "I don't know. It's just funny seeing you get all mad. Seeing you like this and not like how you would normally be..." Jongdae paused for a moment before snickering out loud, "Sorry, I'm ruining a very serious moment here." He motioned his hand for Joonmyun to go on.

"Uh..." The older boy glanced down at his clammy hands, then back up at Jongdae, "I don't really know what else to say. That's all I came up with so far."

"...Seriously?"

"Yes,  _seriously_ ," snapped Joonmyun, his eyes narrowing angrily. "What else am I supposed to do when you've been ignoring me this entire time? I've been trying to talk to you this past week."

Slowly, Jongdae picked up his useless headphones, looked at the broken wire with a tired sigh before tossing it aside on his bed. He fell silent for about another minute or so, staring long and hard at Joonmyun until the latter felt himself fidgeting uncomfortably. At first he wasn't sure whether he should mention anything else about their severed relationship (or roommateship..?), until Jongdae cleared his throat and, with a roll of his eyes, opened his mouth to speak.

"Okay, maybe you're right," Jongdae mumbled as he scratched the side of his face. "I've been nothing but an asshole to you from the very start... and I shouldn't have done that." He cleared his throat, looked at someplace else other than the boy standing in front of him before he finally looked back at Joonmyun. Clearly he has never done something like this before, and Joonmyun hadn't been expecting it in the first place, but he watched as his roommate took a deep breath.

"Sorry," he mustered out. "I really mean it this time."

Eventually a smile crept along Jongdae's face, and he leaned back against the bed with his elbows, sighing deeply like the weight of the world was finally off of his shoulders. "To make it up to you... I wouldn't mind going through that fire drill one more time?"

"You mean," Joonmyun's brows furrowed in confusion. "...That one time I tried taking you, but you ended up locking me out of our room and going back to sleep?"

With a roll of his eyes, Jongdae nodded, "Yes, I was referring to that, thanks for reminding me."

For a moment, Joonmyun had thought that his roommate was joking around, but when he realized Jongdae was actually being serious, he cleared his throat, then placed his hands on his hips.

"Alright," the older boy responded with a curt nod, his face stoic. "But I get to keep the key this time. You already lost that privilege."

"I kind of figured."

"Good," Joonmyun nodded, taking a few steps backwards. At some point he walked far enough where his back hit against the wall with a thump, and he quickly extended an arm out to reach for the door, never breaking eye contact with his roommate as he twisted the handle. "I'm leaving now. I have stuff to do for the club and all." Before he left, he turned to the mess beside the door, "Make sure this is gone by the time I get back."

Jongdae waved a hand to shoo him away, "Yes, I know. You don't have to remind me multiple times."

"Okay, then," the older boy gave a hesitant nod, his head still poking inside the room while the rest of his body creeped outside the door. "Later... alligator." The word 'alligator' came out in just a whisper, and he quickly ducked his head the moment he said it out loud.

Jongdae looked up at him slowly, "Did you say something?"

"...No?" Joonmyun quickly mumbled. Before his roommate could say anything else, he was already dashing down the hallway.

 

 

That following night, Jongdae woke up to the sound of sirens blasting loudly against his ears. Soon, he opened his eyes, groaning when he noticed flashing lights of blue and red dancing across the walls as it blinded his blurred vision.

" _Fuck_ ," the senior whined, burying his face deeper into his pillow. He was truly hoping that he was dreaming at the moment, and that Joonmyun was not in fact walking towards him with the same awful post-apocolyptic uniform that he'd been wearing weeks earlier. Too bad this nightmare was real.

"I didn't think you were going to do it now," he grumbled.

"Fires, earthquakes, and other catastrophies are always unpredictable," Joonmyun recited as he wagged his finger. "Okay, up you go. Our scenario indicates that the buildings are falling apart and we won't be able to make it out in time if we stay in here any longer."

Cussing under his breath, Jongdae slowly got out of bed. After heavy sighs and grunts, Jongdae had managed to put on his attire - similar to the one that Joonmyun was wearing. They walk out the door minutes later, under the quiet snores echoing from inside the various dorms.

But despite wanting to get back into bed, seeing the excited look on Joonmyun's face as he ran down the hallway made Jongdae roll his eyes in amusement. His roommate looked like an idiot, but then again he probably looked just as dumb as Joonmyun.

"This way!" Joonmyun's voice echoed at the very end of the corridor, momentarily interrupting his drowsy thoughts. How he managed to make it so far ahead from him, Jongdae didn't know. But that didn't really matter anyways. Suppressing a yawn, Jongdae soon caught up to his roommate as they made their way to the nearest fire exit. Colorful lights continued to flash across the ceilings, walls, and floors as they walked through the dorms.

 

 

It was a little after 4AM when Jongdae walked over to his bed. He was exhausted, his body cold as ice from having walked outside for the past half-hour. The hem of his pajamas were still soaking wet from walking out in the grass earlier, but he was too tired to even change into another pair of sweats. With a sniff, he hurried over to his bed and grabbed onto his blankets, tugging them down to get back to sleep. But the moment, he lifted the fabric, the sound of something hard landed on the carpet with a soft thud.

Jongdae frowned, then squinted his eyes through the darkness as he crouched down on the floor, extending an arm out to see what he had dropped. Eventually he felt something underneath his palm, and when he lifted up to get a better look, he noticed that it was a small white box.

"What is this?" Jongdae said out loud.

Faint rustling could be heard from the opposite side of the room and, slowly, he could hear the bed creaking before Joonmyun's quiet voice responded, "...I bought you a new pair of earphones. Because... you know... since I ruined your old ones and felt bad about it. Sorry about that, by the way."

He couldn't see Joonmyun through the darkness, but he didn't need to anyways. His eyes were glued on the object in his hands, his thumb tracing along the edges of the box.

But then he eventually chuckled, standing back up as he put the case on his desk. "...Thanks, Joonmyun."

"You're welcome," he answered back in almost a whisper. The bed creaked for a second time, and then a heavy sigh, before silence was the only thing that Jongdae could hear before he crawled back into his own bed.


End file.
